Transition of subcritical liquid jets in single and multicomponent systems

Abstract

The fundamental mechanisms which cause the behavior of a liquid jet to alter from classic spray atomization to diffusion-dominated mixing, especially in multicomponent systems at critical conditions, are investigated. In the present experimental study, the behavior of a subcritical laminar fluoroketone liquid jet injected into its own environment and in a mixture of N2-fluoroketone environment at varying Reynolds number (490-3700) and chamber pressure (subcritical to supercritical) conditions is investigated. The present work utilizes high-speed imaging techniques to understand the jet behavior, and the fractal analysis of the jet boundary is employed to comprehend the mixing nature of the liquid jet. The results show that the composition of fluids in the chamber environment plays a critical role in altering the jet behavior. The thermodynamic transition of the liquid jet depends upon the injecting Reynolds number and chamber pressure for a single component system, whereas in a binary component system, transition depends heavily on the partial pressure of the respective fluid in the chamber environment.