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Brizzolara S, Naudascher R, Rosti ME, Stocker R, Boffetta G, Mazzino A, Holzner M. Immiscible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence: Implications for bacterial degradation in oil spills. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2311798121. [PMID: 38442164 PMCID: PMC10945856 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311798121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
An unstable density stratification between two fluids mixes spontaneously under the effect of gravity, a phenomenon known as Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) turbulence. If the two fluids are immiscible, for example, oil and water, surface tension prevents intermixing at the molecular level. However, turbulence fragments one fluid into the other, generating an emulsion in which the typical droplet size decreases over time as a result of the competition between the rising kinetic energy and the surface energy density. Even though the first phenomenological theory describing this emulsification process was derived many years ago, it has remained elusive to experimental verification, hampering our ability to predict the fate of oil in applications such as deep-water spills. Here, we provide the first experimental and numerical verification of the immiscible RT turbulence theory, unveiling a unique turbulent state that originates at the oil-water interface due to the interaction of multiple capillary waves. We show that a single, non-dimensional, and time-independent parameter controls the range of validity of the theory. Our findings have wide-ranging implications for the understanding of the mixing of immiscible fluids. This includes in particular oil spills, where our work enables the prediction of the oil-water interface dynamics that ultimately determine the rate of oil biodegradation by marine bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Brizzolara
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), ZürichCH-8039, Switzerland
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf8903, Switzerland
| | - Robert Naudascher
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), ZürichCH-8039, Switzerland
| | - Marco Edoardo Rosti
- Complex Fluids and Flows Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa904-0495, Japan
| | - Roman Stocker
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), ZürichCH-8039, Switzerland
| | - Guido Boffetta
- Physics Department and National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino10125, Italy
| | - Andrea Mazzino
- Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA) and National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova16145, Italy
| | - Markus Holzner
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf8903, Switzerland
- Environmental Microbiology Department, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Scinence and Technology (EAWAG), Dübendorf8600, Switzerland
- Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research (IWA), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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Di Ilio G, Chiappini D, Falcucci G, Succi S. Progress in mesoscale methods for fluid dynamics simulation. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2021; 379:20200393. [PMID: 34455837 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Di Ilio
- Department of Engineering, University of Naples 'Parthenope', Centro Direzionale, Isola C4, Naples 80143, Italy
| | - Daniele Chiappini
- Department of Engineering, University of Rome 'Niccolo Cusano', Via Don Carlo Gnocchi 3, Rome 00166, Italy
| | - Giacomo Falcucci
- Department of Enterprise Engineering 'Mario Lucertini', University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via del Politecnico 1, Rome 00133, Italy
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, 17 Oxford Street, 02138 Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sauro Succi
- Italian Institute of Technology, P.le Aldo Moro 1, Rome 00185, Italy
- Institute of Applied Computing - National Research Council of Italy, Via dei Taurini 19, Rome 00185, Italy
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, 17 Oxford Street, 02138 Cambridge, MA, USA
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