Modelling strategies for emulsification in industrial practice

Emulsification modelling has received quite some attention in academic literature. Given the importance of modelling for process optimisation and scale‐up, it is a relevant question to what extent this work is used in industrial practice. In this paper we address this question based on Unilever experience, mainly for food and personal care emulsions. These products often have a high droplet fraction and/or a non‐Newtonian rheology, and the geometry of the emulsification equipment is often complex. This limits the use of advanced methods like multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Most of the practical work is still based on semi‐empirical models.