Simulations of droplet collisions with a diffuse interface model near the critical point

In the present study a method is presented for simulations of droplet collisions in three spatial dimensions under non-isothermal conditions using a Diffuse Interface Model, which is based on the non-isothermal Navier–Stokes–Korteweg equations combined with the Van der Waals equation of state. This particular Diffuse Interface Model can only be used for a single component fluid and the temperature needs to be close to the critical point of the fluid to prevent the interfacial thickness from being too small compared to the size of the computational domain. Results are produced with a numerical method based on the finite-volume approach in combination with a Total Variation Diminishing time-integration scheme. Simulations of droplet collisions show the existence of multiple collision regimes for which the energy transfer and dissipation processes during the collisions are studied in detail.