Laser diagnostics of an evaporating electrospray

Abstract

An electrospray atomizer generates monodisperse, dilute sprays when working in the cone–jet mode. Evolution of an electrospray with droplet diameter below 10 μm is studied with phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) and the exciplex-PLIF technique. The evaporation rate constant is determined from droplet velocity and diameter measured with a PDPA and is found to sharply increase with the velocity slip and the coflow temperature. Fluorescence around 400 nm, usually referred to as TMPD fluorescence, is calibrated with a heated, laminar, coflow vapor jet diluted with nitrogen. The TMPD fluorescence yield nonlinearly increases with temperature up to 538 K and then declines. Single-shot images show that fluorescence around 400 nm is mainly generated from TMPD vapor and that from droplets can be neglected as a first analysis; however, fluorescence around 490 nm, usually referred to as exciplex fluorescence, is generated from both droplets and fuel vapor immediately around droplets. Exciplex fluorescence is correlated with PDPA measurements and TMPD fluorescence. Effects of temperature, fuel composition, overlap of fluorescent spectra, and chemical equilibrium for exciplex formation are discussed. Technical challenges for quantitative exciplex-PLIF measurements are highlighted.