title: Aggregation and separation in ternary particle/oil/water systems with fully wettable particles.
abstract: We report that a variety of ternary particle/liquid/liquid mixtures heavily aggregate or separate completely if (1) the particles are fully or almost fully wetted by one fluid, and (2) if the wetting fluid volume fraction is comparable to the particle volume fraction. Aggregation and separation do not happen if the particles are partially wetted by both fluids, in which case Pickering emulsions appear at all compositions. Rheological and geometric criteria for aggregation are proposed and compared with a state diagram of a ternary system composed of oil, water, and hydrophilic glass particles. Analogies are drawn to wet granulation and spherical agglomeration, two particle processing operations in which wetting phenomena are important.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.
authors.forename: Samantha J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Heidlebaugh
authors.forename: Trystan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Domenech
authors.forename: Steven V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Iasella
authors.forename: Sachin S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Velankar