Thermal conductivity of emulsion with anisotropic microstructure induced by external field

Abstract

The structure formation influence on various macroscopic properties of disperse systems is poorly investigated in respect to emulsion systems. The present work deals with the experimental and theoretical study of the heat transfer in emulsions whose dispersed phase droplets are arranged into chain-like structures under the action of external force field. The studied emulsions are of water-in-oil and oil-in-water types; they are based on ferrofluid and contain dispersed phase droplets in a size range of the order of several tens of micrometers. It is demonstrated that the emulsion thermal conductivity grows notably under the effect of external magnetic field parallel to the heat flux and provoking structure formation. It is revealed that the maximal response of thermal conductivity on the magnetic field action takes place at the dispersed phase volume fraction of about 20–30%. The structure formation in magnetic field has been simulated, and the magnetic interactions of emulsion droplets with each other and with the sample boundaries have been considered and discussed. The macroscopic thermal conductivity of structured emulsions has been numerically calculated and compared with experimental data. The obtained results may be of interest in the development of potential applications of controlling the properties of colloids by magnetic field