Prof. Prof. Omar Matar

Head of Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK

E-mail: o.matar@imperial.ac.uk

Bio

Omar Matar FREng, FAPS, FIChemE, is a Professor of Fluid Mechanics, and Head of Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. His research interests include the use of multi-scale, physics-informed, data-driven methods for the solution of complex non-isothermal multiphase flows with phase change. He has published over 370 papers, with over 15,000 citations, and H-index 67. He is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Droplet, and Data-Centric Engineering.

Title

Numerical Simulations of Complex Multiphase Flows

Abstract

We present the results of direct numerical simulations of a variety of two- and multiphase flows of varying degree of complexity with industrial applications. Exemplars of practically important problems examined include mixing in stirred vessels and static mixers, and flows in micro-channels (with phase change), as well as environmental flows featuring aerosol formation via bubble bursting through interfaces in the oceans. Some  of these flows are studied in the presence and absence of surfactants, which may be present either by design or as a contaminant. We account for the spatio-temporal evolution of the surfactants along the interface and within the bulk; the bulk and interfacial species are fully coupled via sorptive fluxes. The surfactant dynamics are also coupled to the flow through the dependence of the interfacial tension on the local interfacial surfactant concentration. For all the flows considered, we identify the various physical mechanisms present and highlight their influence on the observed fluid dynamical phenomena.