Colloid electrohydrodynamics

Abstract

This brief extracted review presents the recent development in basic and applied science and engineering of finely dispersed particles and related systems in general, but more profound and in-depth treatise are related to the liquid-liquid finely dispersed systems, i.e. emulsions and double emulsions. Twenty-five years ago, the idea, at first very fogy, came out from the pilot plant experiments related to the extraction Of uranium from wet phosphoric acid. In particular the solution of the entrainment problems, breaking of emulsions/double emulsions, as the succession of the extraction and stripping operations/processes, was performed In this pilot plant, secondary liquid-liquid phase separation loop was designed and carried out. The loop consisted of a lamellar coalescer and four flotation cells in series. Central equipment in the loop, relevant to this investigation, was the lamellar coalescer. The phase separation in this equipment is based on the action of external forces of mechanical and/or electrical origin, while adhesive processes at the inclined filling plates occur. Since many of related processes, e.g. adhesive processes, rupture processes and coalescence, were not very well understood, deeper research of these events and phenomena was a real scientific challenge.