Predicting the effect of interfacial flow of insoluble surfactant on the deformation of drops rising in a liquid

Abstract

The volume-of-fluid numerical method of Rudman is extended to incorporate interfacial flow of insoluble surfactant using a published volume-of-fluid-based algorithm for surfactant transport. The extended technique is used to predict the transient axi-symmetric deformation of a drop rising in a liquid column. Predictions of flow and deformation with and without surfactant are compared and discussed. The results demonstrate the viability of the extended Rudman method for simulating interface dynamics in two-fluid flow which includes surface tension driven flow due to surfactant transport on the interface.