A Lattice Boltzmann method for turbulent emulsions

Abstract

The breakup of droplets in a turbulent flow is key to many natural and industrial applications. Here we present and validate a computationally efficient numerical method that allows to study turbulent emulsion for very long times. The numerical method is based on a multi-component Lattice Boltzmann method based on the Shan-Chen model and supplemented with a large scale force to stir turbulence. A special treatment to limit mobility between different fluid components is introduced and validated. We demonstrate the potential of our approach in sustaining a turbulent emulsion over extremely long integration times (necessary to collect firm turbulence statistics) and we present first results on the probability distribution function of droplets' accelerations.