Numerical Simulation of Convergence and Electrocoalescence of Two Conducting Droplets

To design electrostatic coalescers and determine the most efficient modes of their operation, it is important to know how two conductive droplets interact under the influence of an external electric field. This includes non-coaxial droplet interactions: those where the droplets are initially located and collide afterwards at non-zero angles. The present work simulates numerically interaction of a pair of water droplets weighed in olive oil in that exact case and analyses how the angle of collision affects the process of the droplets coalescence. It turns out that for non-zero degrees the droplets coalesce in almost the same way as they would do if located at zero angle. Moreover, the study revealed the value of droplet radius, starting from which the non-linear hydrodynamic effects become small and stop influencing the contact angle.