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Emergence of Power-Law Particle Size Distribution in Microfluidic Calcium Carbonate Precipitation: An Extended Yule
Jianping Xu1,2, Matthew T Balhoff1,2
1Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|August 4, 2023
Summary
Calcium carbonate precipitation in microfluidic channels yields power law distributed particle sizes, unlike bulk solutions. An extended Yule process models this phenomenon, applicable to simultaneous growth and ripening systems.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Calcium carbonate precipitation in bulk solutions typically results in bell-shaped or bimodal particle size distributions.
- The particle size distribution behavior during precipitation in confined microvolumes remains poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate calcium carbonate particle precipitation within a microfluidic confined volume.
- To determine the particle size distribution characteristics under various experimental conditions.
Main Methods:
- Microfluidic experiments involving continuous injection of sodium carbonate and calcium chloride solutions.
- Systematic variation of reagent concentrations, mixing strategies, flow rates, and precipitation times.
Main Results:
- Precipitated calcium carbonate particles consistently exhibited a power law size distribution with an exponent of 1.4.
- This distribution was observed irrespective of variations in experimental parameters.
Conclusions:
- The particle size distribution in microfluidic precipitation is governed by a power law, differing from bulk precipitation.
- An extended Yule process, incorporating a ripening term, successfully models the observed data.
- The proposed model offers a generalized framework for systems exhibiting simultaneous particle growth and ripening.
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