Controlled production of emulsions using a crossflow membrane: Part I: Droplet formation from a single pore

A method for manufacturing emulsions based on cross flow membrane emulsification has been studied. This involves the formation of emulsions by breaking up the discontinuous phase into droplets in a controlled manner without the use of turbulent eddies. This is achieved by passing the discontinuous phase through a suitable microporous medium and injecting the droplets so formed directly into a moving continuous phase. This paper summarizes the development of this technology. Experimental data obtained using a single pore (capillary tube) are presented here for the production of model oil-in-water emulsions. A high speed video camera was used to measure droplet growth and detachment processes from the pore as a function of process parameters such as transmembrane pressure drop, continuous phase crossflow velocity etc. A phenomenological model is developed and tested to predict droplet size and production rate.