Coalescence of an emulsion in a fibrous bed: Part I. Theory

A model of a fibrous bed coalescer is presented which relates the collision frequency between particles and fibers to the overall coalescence frequency. The model will predict the ratio of outlet to inlet particle number densities (Y) and takes into account the mean inlet particle size, mean fiber size, void fraction of the bed, superficial velocity through the bed, degree of bed saturation, and bed length. The ratio of outlet to inlet particle number density, in terms of these parameters, is given by {article}{empty}{document} \[Y = exp \{{- {{3(1 - ∈)S(1 + d₁₀ /d_f)}} {{4d_f (1 - S)}}η _e L} \} \] {document} where η is defined as the coalescence efficiency and varies between 0 and 1 with the fiber Reynolds number.