Non-newtonian liquid-liquid fluids in kenics static mixers

Immiscible liquid-liquid suspensions, such as emulsions and polymer blends, are frequently encountered in a variety of applications, e.g., cosmetics and pharmaceuticals design, food processing, and plastics technology. Mixing efficiency of such systems is greatly influenced by the property of the two phases. In particular, most of the fluids used by the industry show Non-Newtonian behaviour. This work is concerned with the application of static mixers to form biphasic liquid dispersions in the laminar flow regime; in particular the effects on the mixing efficiency of elasticity of one phase will be discussed. To this aim, appropriate fluids showing constant viscosity and weak elasticity, have been prepared. To analyze mixer performance, drop size distribution immediately after the last mixing element was measured via contrast enhanced video microscopy and image analysis. The stability of the emulsions was measured by Time Lapse microscopy, also in the presence of surfactants. Copyright �� 2013, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.