Immiscible Rayleigh–Taylor turbulence: Implications for bacterial degradation in oil spills
Stefano Brizzolara,
Robert Naudascher,
Marco Edoardo Rosti
et al.
Abstract:An unstable density stratification between two fluids mixes spontaneously under the effect of gravity, a phenomenon known as Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) turbulence. If the two fluids are immiscible, for example, oil and water, surface tension prevents intermixing at the molecular level. However, turbulence fragments one fluid into the other, generating an emulsion in which the typical droplet size decreases over time as a result of the competition between the rising kinetic energy and the surface energy density. Even… Show more
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