LAUSR

To reveal the flow characteristics in the packed bed of a fiber filter, the collision behaviors of water droplets with a single stainless steel (SS) fiber in oil were investigated. First, the forces acting on the water droplets during collisional processes were analyzed; then, a systematic test based on the visualization method was conducted to elucidate the effects of the emulsion flow rate, the value of N = rd/rf (ratio of the radii of the water droplets and the fiber) and oil viscosity on the motions of the water droplets colliding with the fibers. It was revealed that increasing the emulsion flow rate and N can clearly improve the collision velocity and the efficiency of the water droplet collision with a single fiber. However, the influence of the oil viscosity on the velocity of the water droplets approaching the SS fibers can be ignored. All of the findings will facilitate the design of efficient fibrous bed coalescers for emulsion and aerosol purification.