Effect of Liquid Properties on the Characteristics of Collisions between Droplets and Solid Particles

Abstract

The characteristics of the collisions of droplets with solid particles (52,100 steel) were experimentally studied when varying the key liquid properties: viscosity (1–6.3 mPa·s), surface tension (72.69–36.1 mN/m) and interfacial (liquid-liquid) tension (3.41–42.57 mN/m). Distilled water, aqueous solutions of glycerol, surfactants and diesel emulsions were used. The experimental conditions corresponded to the following ranges: Weber number 5–450, Ohnesorge number 0.001–0.03, Reynolds number 0.1–1000, capillary number 0.01–0.3. Droplet-particle collision regimes (agglomeration, stretching separation) were identified and the characteristics of secondary liquid fragments (size, number) were determined. Droplet-particle interaction regime maps in the We(Oh) and Re(Ca) systems were constructed. Equations describing the transition boundaries between the droplet-particle interaction regimes were obtained. The equations take the form: We = a · Oh + c. For the conditions of the droplet-particle interaction, the relationship We = 2214 · Oh + 49.214 was obtained. For the interaction with a substrate: We = 1.0145 · Oh + 0.0049. The experimental results were compared with the characteristics of collisions of liquid droplets with each other. Differences in the characteristics of secondary atomization of droplets as a result of collisions were identified. Guidelines were provided for applying the research findings to the development of liquid droplet secondary atomization technologies in gas-vapor-droplet applications.