Electrohydrodynamics of monodisperse emulsions: 1. Sedimentation of an emulsion of droplets with an electrical double layer

The problem of the steady-state gravity sedimentation of a monodisperse emu lsion of spherical droplets with a thin electrical double layer in a viscou s conducting liquid was considered. The emulsion was assumed to be statisti cally uniform; the volume concentration of droplets c < 0.2 and the Reynold s number Re much less than 1, so that hydrodynamic equations in the Stokes approximation were valid. It has been assumed that the key factor in the de scription of the droplet system is the "collective geometrical effect," rat her than the electrohydrodynamic interaction between two droplets, for whic h the binary function is determined from other grounds. Electrohydrodynamic processes in the vicinity of a single droplet were analyzed in terms of ge neralized Functions. Expressions for the rate of sedimentation; the sedimen tation potential of the emulsion; and, as a limiting case, a suspension of solid particles were obtained.