LAUSR

Gas-aqueous liquid-oil three-phase flow was generated in a microchannel with a double T-junction. Under the squeezing of the dispersed aqueous phase at the second T-junction (T2), the splitting of bubbles generated from the first T-junction (T1) was investigated. During the bubble splitting process, the upstream gas-oil two-phase flow and the aqueous phase flow at T2 fluctuate in opposite phases, resulting in either independent or synchronous relationship between the instantaneous downstream and upstream bubble velocities depending on the operating conditions. Compared with two-phase flow, the modified capillary number and the ratio of the upstream velocity to the aqueous phase velocity were introduced to predict the bubble breakup time. The critical bubble breakup length and size laws of daughter bubbles/slugs were thereby proposed. These results provide an important guideline for designing microchannel structures for a precise manipulation of gas-liquid-liquid three-phase flow which finds potential applications among others in chemical synthesis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.