Dynamics of a Rising Taylor Drop in a Stagnant Shear-Thinning Liquid

This study investigates the dynamics of a Taylor drop rising under the influence of non-Newtonian behavior of the continuous phase. Numerical analysis of a Taylor drop rising in a vertical pipe with stagnant shear-thinning liquid is performed using the volume of fluid (VoF) based interFoam solver in OpenFOAM. Silicone oils and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solutions are used as dispersed and continuous phases, respectively. Nondimensional numbers are used to study the effect of shear-thinning behavior, pipe diameter, and dispersed phase viscosity on the terminal velocity and drop shape. The shear-thinning behavior of the continuous phase greatly influences both the terminal velocity and the shape of the drop. The Froude number correlation in the literature is extended for a Taylor drop rising in non-Newtonian liquid, with prediction errors within ±15%. Furthermore, the influence of a Taylor drop on wall shear stress for different CMC concentrations is reported.