Dynamics of double emulsion break-up in three phase glass capillary microfluidic devices

Pinch-off of a compound jet in 3D glass capillary microfluidic device, which combines co-flowing and countercurrent flow focusing geometries, was investigated using an incompressible three-phase axisymmetric Volume of Fluid–Continuum Surface Force (VOF–CSF) numerical model. The model showed good agreement with the experimental drop generation and was capable of predicting formation of core/shell droplets in dripping, narrowing jetting and widening jetting regimes. In dripping and widening jetting regimes, the presence of a vortex flow around the upstream end of the necking thread facilitates the jet break-up. No vortex flow was observed in narrowing jetting regime and pinch-off occurred due to higher velocity at the downstream end of the coaxial thread compared to that at the upstream end. In all regimes, the inner jet ruptured before the outer jet, preventing a leakage of the inner drop into the outer fluid. The necking region moves at the maximum speed in the narrowing jetting regime, due to the highest level of shear at the outer surface of the thread. However, in widening jetting regime, the neck travels the longest distance downstream before it breaks

Microfluidic production of multiple emulsions

Microfluidic devices are promising tools for the production of monodispersed tuneable complex emulsions. This review highlights the advantages of microfluidics for the fabrication of emulsions and presents an overview of the microfluidic emulsification methods including two-step and single-step methods for the fabrication of high-order multiple emulsions (double, triple, quadruple and quintuple) and emulsions with multiple and/or multi-distinct inner cores. The microfluidic methods for the formation of multiple emulsion drops with ultra-thin middle phase, multi-compartment jets, and Janus and ternary drops composed of two or three distinct surface regions are also presented. Different configurations of microfluidic drop makers are covered, such as co-flow, T-junctions and flow focusing (both planar and three-dimensional (3D)). Furthermore, surface modifications of microfluidic channels and different modes of droplet generation are summarized. Non-confined microfluidic geometries used for buoyancy-driven drop generation and membrane integrated microfluidics are also discussed. The review includes parallelization and drop splitting strategies for scaling up microfluidic emulsification. The productivity of a single drop maker is typically 1 L/h, which requires combining drop makers into twodimensional (2D) and 3D assemblies fed from a single set of inlet ports through a network of distribution and collection channel

Production of uniform droplets using membrane, microchannel and microfluidic emulsification devices

This paper deals with the political nature of mafias that protect drug trafficking from a broadly mentioned but poorly studied aspect in the same concept of mafia, namely, the articulation of interests of diverse social groups within their protection offer. Both types of mafias, the ones that enjoy social control and the ones that do not enjoy major social interaction, aims to impose decisions favorable to their interests. The big difference is that decisions of the former ones tend to consider the social structure transformed by drug trafficking. Any attempt to repress these mafias means now an attack to the structural interests of diverse social groups. A specific case is used to illustrate this political approach on mafia: the war of Pablo Escobar against the Colombian state.Este artículo es una aproximación al carácter político de las mafias que protegen el tráfico de drogas desde una perspectiva mencionada pero poco tratada dentro del concepto mismo de mafia: la articulación de intereses de amplios grupos sociales dentro de su oferta de protección. Tanto las mafias de la droga que gozan de dominación social como las que no tienen mayor interacción social toman decisiones dirigidas a la imposición de sus intereses. La gran diferencia está en que las decisiones de las primeras tienden a involucrar la estructura social que ha sido transformada por el narcotráfico. Cualquier intento por reprimir a las mafias involucra ahora un ataque a los intereses estructurales de amplios sectores sociales. Un caso concreto servirá para ilustrar esta lectura política del narcotráfico: la guerra de Pablo Escobar contra el estado

Preparation of Microcrystals of Piroxicam Monohydrate by Antisolvent Precipitation via Microfabricated Metallic Membranes with Ordered Pore Arrays

Microcrystals of piroxicam (PRX) monohydrate with a narrow size distribution were prepared from acetone/PRX solutions by antisolvent crystallization via metallic membranes with ordered pore arrays. Crystallization was achieved by controlled addition of the feed solution through the membrane pores into a well-stirred antisolvent. A complete transformation of an anhydrous form I into a monohydrate form of PRX was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The size of the crystals was 7–34 μm and was controlled by the PRX concentration in the feed solution (15–25 g L¯¹), antisolvent/solvent volume ratio (5–30), and type of antisolvent (Milli-Q water or 0.1–0.5 wt % aqueous solutions of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), poly(vinyl alcohol) or Pluronic P-123). The smallest crystals were obtained by injecting 25 g L¯¹ PRX solution through a stainless-steel membrane with a pore size of 10 μm into a 0.06 wt % HPMC solution stirred at 1500 rpm using an antisolvent/solvent ratio of 20. HPMC provided better steric stabilization of microcrystals against agglomeration than poly(vinyl alcohol) and Pluronic P-123, due to hydrogen bonding interactions with PRX and water. A continuous production of large PRX monohydrate microcrystals with a volume-weighted mean diameter above 75 μm was achieved in a continuous stirred membrane crystallizer. Rapid pouring of Milli-Q water into the feed solution resulted in a mixture of highly polydispersed prism-shaped and needle-shaped crystals

Continuous Membrane Emulsification with Pulsed (Oscillatory) Flow

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie3020457Tubular micrometer pore sized sieve type membranes with internal diameter of 14 mm and length of 60 mm containing uniform pores of diameter 10 and 20 μm were used to generate emulsions of sunflower oil dispersed in water and stabilized by Tween 20 using oscillatory flow of the continuous phase. Drop diameters between 30 and 300 μm could be produced, in a controllable way and with span values of down to 0.4. By using pulsed flow it was possible to provide dispersed phase concentrations of up to 45% v/v in a single pass over the membrane, that is, without the need to recirculate the continuous phase through the membrane tube. It was possible to correlate the drop size produced with the shear conditions at the membrane surface using the wave shear stress equation. The oscillatory Reynolds number indicated flow varying from laminar to substantially turbulent, but the change in flow conditions did not show a notable influence on the drop diameters produced, over what is predicted by the varying wall shear stress applied to the wave equation. However, the 20 μm pore sized sieve type membrane appeared to allow the passage of the pressure pulse through the membrane pores, under certain operating conditions, which did lead to finer drop sizes produced than would be predicted. These through-membrane pulsations could be suppressed by changes in operating conditions: a higher dispersed phase injection rate or more viscous continuous phase, and they did not occur under similar operating conditions used with the 10 μm pore sized sieve type of membrane. Generating emulsions of this size using pulsed continuous phase flow provides opportunities for combining drop generation at high dispersed phase concentration, by membrane emulsification, with downstream processing such as reaction in plug flow reactors

Production of food-grade multiple emulsions with high encapsulation yield using oscillating membrane emulsification

Food-grade water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) multiple emulsions with a volume median diameter of outer droplets of 50-210 mu m were produced by injecting a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion at the flux of 30 L m(-2) h(-1) through a 10-mu m pore electroplated nickel membrane oscillating at 10-90 Hz frequency and 0.1-5 mm amplitude in 2 wt% aqueous Tween(R) 20 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate) solution. The oil phase in the primary W/O emulsion was 5 wt% PGPR (polyglycerol polyricinoleate) dissolved in sunflower oil and the content of water phase in the W/O emulsion was 30 vol%. The size of outer droplets was precisely controlled by the amplitude and frequency of membrane oscillation. Only 3-5% of the inner droplets with a mean diameter of 0.54 mu m were released into the outer aqueous phase during membrane emulsification. A sustained release of 200 ppm copper (II) loaded in the inner aqueous phase was investigated over 7 days. 95% of Cu(II) initially present in the inner water phase was released in the first 2 days from 56-mu m diameter multiple emulsion droplets and less than 15% of Cu(II) was released over the same interval from 122 mu m droplets. The release rate of Cu(II) decreased with increasing the size of outer droplets and followed non-zero-order kinetics with a release exponent of 0.3-0.5. The prepared multiple emulsions can be used for controlled release of hydrophilic actives in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industry. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.7th Formula Conference, Jul 01-04, 2013, Mulhouse, Franc

Stirred cell membrane emulsification for multiple emulsions containing unrefined pumpkin seed oil with uniform droplet size

Stirred cell membrane emulsification was used to create double water-in-oil-in-water emulsions at the dispersed phase flux of up to 3200 L m(-2) h(-1). The oil phase was unrefined pumpkin seed oil or sunflower oil containing 30% by volume of internal water phase and the external water phase was 2% Tween 20 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate) or 2% Pluronic F-68 (polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylen copolymer). Using microengineered nickel membranes with pore sizes between 15 and 40 mu m, median drop sizes of double emulsion droplets were in the range between 100 and 430 mu m, depending mainly on the shear at the membrane surface and dispersed phase injection rate. In most cases the drops were very uniform, with span (i.e. 90% drop size minus 10% drop size divided by median size) values of around 0.5. This data is similar to what was obtained previously for simple O/W emulsions of the same materials. Hence, the internal water phase, and internal surfactant, 5% PGPR (polyglycerol polyricinoleate), did not adversely influence the emulsification process. A marker material, copper sulfate, was added to the internal water phase and the release of copper was monitored with respect to time. For both lipid systems, at the larger droplet size, there was a significant period of no copper release, followed by almost linear release with time. This initial period was absent when the drop size was close to 100 mu m. The initial entrapment efficiency of the copper, in all experiments, was higher than 94%. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved