Drainage of water droplets in a bounded paraffin oil continuous phase: Role of temperature, size and boundary walls

This article presents numerical simulations of the hydrodynamics generated by droplets evolving in a continuous paraffin oil phase and submitted to gravity. The model under consideration is two-dimensional, includes capillarity, free boundaries and is simulated with a finite volume technique. Droplets are confined in a two-dimensional simulation domain of 1 cm side. The influence of their size and temperature in their overall drainage dynamics is described. The initial condition problem is discussed for 1 mm radius droplets to describe the effect of boundary walls. Changes in the circulation flows are evidenced, different hydrodynamic regimes identified and their characteristic times discussed.