Droplet Velocity Distributions Research Articles

Spray droplet size distribution and droplet velocity measurements in a firing optical engine

Macroscopic spray characteristics of a fuel injection system in an internal combustion (IC) engine have a direct impact on engine performance, emissions, and combustion characteristics. Nonintrusive in-cylinder measurements provide insights into the spray formation process for greater understanding of fuel-air mixing and combustion processes in an IC engine. In this paper, there are two parts: (a) procedure and methodology to configure the Artium phase Doppler interferometer (PDI) for in situ measurements through a cylindrical window and (b) comparative macroscopic spray characteristics in a firing Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) optical engine to a constant volume spray chamber (CVSC) for spray droplet size-velocity distributions. Binned average velocity and average Sauter mean diameter of spray droplets in a firing engine were compared with that of a CVSC. Probability density function of droplet diameters in the CVSC under ambient conditions and in the engine combustion chamber provides an insight into the comparative droplet size distributions and droplet dynamics. Discussion on challenges encountered during PDI measurements in the firing engine environment, safety protocols, and tools required is also included. In addition, shadowgraphy images have been used to discuss the details on spray boundaries and spray evolution. The droplet size distribution inside the engine combustion chamber was found to be significantly different from the one observed in the CVSC. An engine simulation model can be developed/validated by using the data reported in this manuscript for attaining superior accuracy in the model. This paper describes the comparisons of the spray droplet size and velocity distributions in a CVSC and in situ for a working GDI engine. Maximum spray droplet velocity components (Vx, Vy) under engine combustion chamber conditions were 29.8 m/s, 14.2 m/s whereas the corresponding velocities in the CVSC under ambient conditions they were 78.41 m/s, 23.92 m/s, respectively, showing a large difference between the traditional measurements in the CVSC simulating engine conditions, and actual firing engine conditions. This study also reports the very first attempt in the open literature to measure spray droplet size and velocity distribution measurements in a firing IC engine.

Experimental study on the flow field distribution characteristics of an open-end swirl injector under ambient pressure

To investigate the influence of ambient pressure on the atomization characteristics of an open-end swirl injector, the spray morphology, droplet diameter distribution and velocity distribution were measured under ambient pressures of 0.1 MPa, 0.5 MPa, 1.0 MPa, 1.5 MPa and 2.0 MPa using a high-speed camera and Phase Doppler Interferometer (PDI). As the ambient pressure increased, the spray region and intact liquid film area decreased, and the spray angle, spray width and breakup length shortened. Increased ambient pressure made droplet SMD larger and the SMD curves flatter. The droplet Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) at each measuring point along the radial direction increased gradually and then decreased slightly, but there was no significant difference between different measuring sections. Ambient pressure had a more significant influence on axial velocity than the tangential velocity. As the ambient pressure increased, the axial velocity decreased, and the region where droplets had negative axial velocity was compressed backward to the injector outlet. Additionally, the tangential velocity near the outlet fluctuated greatly along the radial distribution. As the axial distance increased, the velocity curves became much flatter.

Effect of injector swirl number on near-field spray characteristics of a novel twin-fluid injector

Compared to liquid jets/films from conventional air-blast injectors, flow blurring (FB) injection has generated fine sprays immediately at the injector exit, resulting in the clean combustion of various fuels including viscous oils. The FB atomization involves primary atomization by bubble bursting of the bubbly internal two-phase flow due to the dramatic pressure drop at the injector exit and the secondary break-up of droplets/ligaments by Rayleigh–Taylor instability. Recently, a novel swirl-burst (SB) injector has been developed to further enhance the secondary atomization, which has resulted in less lifted and cleaner flames by integrating swirling atomizing air with the FB concept. The present study investigates the effect of injector swirl number (ISN) on spray characteristics including droplet velocity and size distributions in the injector near field (8 mm × 4 mm) using particle image velocimetry and shadowgraph imaging for the SB injectors with diameter, D, of 1.5 mm. The study investigates four ISNs from 2.0 to 3.5 with an increment of 0.5, corresponding to various swirl vane angles. Results show that all the ISNs have achieved a short break-up length (~ 1.67D) and fine atomization with final droplet diameter ranging from 12 to 40 µm and SMD around 25 µm. Droplets are evenly distributed at each axial plane for all the ISNs. Increase in the ISN results in enhanced secondary atomization and hence finer droplets within 1.67D downstream of the injector exit. Spray angles are typically narrower at the increased ISN. Regardless of the variations within the injector near field and the different spray angles, the break-up length and final droplet size are nearly independent of the ISN.

Improved hybrid model applied to liquid jet in crossflow

Spray formation in a liquid jet in air crossflow is investigated numerically using a hybrid approach for two cases: We=11 and We=53, where We is the air Weber number. The VOF method was used to solve the interaction between the liquid jet column and the air flow up to the primary breakup. The Eulerian liquid portion is converted to discrete Lagrangian drops by the use of source terms of mass and momentum and according to empirical correlations. The effects of two secondary breakup models, as well as two-way coupling with droplet-to-droplet collisions were evaluated in this work, in order to establish an improved hybrid model suitable to solve liquid jet in crossflow at low computational cost. The results were very satisfactory relating droplet velocity and mass fraction distribution for the lower Weber number case. For the higher Weber number case, the deviation of the numerical mass fraction distribution in comparison with the experimental one was less than 14×10−2. Improvement to the droplet size distribution was observed by using a new secondary breakup model, specially for the higher Weber number case.

Visualization of spatial distribution of the droplet size and velocity in flash boiling spray with extended glare-point imaging technique

Flash boiling is an effective way to improve the atomization quality. Droplet diameter and velocity distribution of the flash boiling spray extremely impact the mixture formation of direct injection engines. We visualize and measure the spatial distribution of the droplet size and velocity of flash boiling spray with extended glare-point imaging technique in this paper. An improved correlation-based processing algorithm for droplet identification is proposed. The algorithm is capable of identifying the droplet positions and sizes as well as tracking and matching of the droplet displacement vectors. The employed template matching algorithm using serial particle mask and the centroid method provide higher accuracy for estimating the droplet displacement, and the cross-correlation matching algorithm and the two-frame particle tracking algorithm further ensure higher matching rates for the droplet pairs. The performance of the algorithm is well validated by simulations. Furthermore, the method is applied for the experimental study of flash boiling spray with extended glare-point imaging technique in combination with particle tracking velocimetry for measuring the particle size and velocity with higher accuracy, the results of which provides improved understanding of the flash boiling spray formation mechanism.

Time-resolved droplet size and velocity distributions in a dilute region of a high-pressure pulsed diesel spray

The principal objective of the present work is to experimentally investigate the time-resolved spray characteristics. Droplets data in a dilute region of a high-pressure diesel spray were obtained by employing the PDIA (particle/droplet image analysis) method with double pulse laser illumination. Eulerian specification was adopted to describe the transient spray microscopic behavior within a fixed test window at ten representative instants after triggering the injection. The experimental results indicate that the transient spray evolution can be characterized in three distinct stages. During stage I (the latency stage), the spray tip develops and reaches the test location, but no discrete droplets were clearly observed. During stage II, the spray passes through the test window, from which discrete droplets are observed to disperse in the dilute region and the SMD of the droplets increases rapidly. During stage III, bulk spray disappears in the test window and only discrete droplets were observed. The SMD of the droplets is decreased to a “steady-state” value. Based on these sampled and processed data, the droplet size distribution functions were obtained and compared with the Rosin-Rammler and the Nukiyama-Tanasawa function. Finally, the Stokes number and the Weber number of each droplet were determined, and the movement of the droplets were analyzed. The measured time dependent droplet behaviors are believed to provide important data for spray modeling and simulation.

Improving the spatial dynamic range of digital inline particle holography

Digital inline holography has been proven to provide three-dimensional droplet position, size, and velocity distributions with a single camera. These data are crucial for understanding multiphase flows. In this work, we examine the performance of this diagnostic in the limit of very small particles, on the order of a pixel in diameter and smaller, and propose a postprocessing method to improve them: Lanczos interpolation. The Lanczos interpolation kernel is the digital implementation of the Whittaker sinc filter and strikes a compromise between maintaining the spatial frequency ceiling of the original digital image and computational cost of the interpolation. Without Lanczos interpolation, or supersampling, the ultimate detectable particle size floor is on the order of four pixel widths. We show in this work that this limit can be reduced by 50% or more with supersampling, depending upon the desired diameter accuracy, and examine the effect of supersampling on the resulting accuracy of the extracted size and position of spherical particles. Extending this resolution limit increases the overall detection efficiency of the diagnostic. Since this increases the spatial dynamic range of the diagnostic, it can also allow a larger field of view to be captured with the same particle size floor.

A Model of the Motion of Erosion-Hazardous Droplets in Steam Turbines’ Interblade Channels

A model is discussed describing the interaction of liquid droplets with interblade channel walls in condensing steam turbines. It is based on the experimental data on the impact of individual droplets on a surface that are presented in the form of statistical models with free empirical parameters. The motion of liquid particles is simulated using individual streams of droplets under the action of aerodynamic drag force from the steam. Their interaction with the interblade channel surface is determined by the kinetic energy of impingement affecting the subsequent process. The proposed numerical approach deals with two droplet impact cases, i.e., a droplet deposits on the profile of the blade airfoil or becomes a source of secondary moisture leaving the surface. Liquid droplets formed in the latter case are also simulated using streams. The empirical coefficients of the model were selected based on the results of experimental investigation of the motion of liquid particles in a flat vane cascade. Parameters of wet steam flow in an interblade channel were determined using a laser flow diagnostic system and the particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) method implemented on its basis. The investigations were performed in a two-dimensional flow. The measured patterns of liquid particles’ motion were compared with predicted ones. The velocity distributions of primary and secondary droplets were examined in six characteristic regions of the flat cascade. Causes responsible for disagreement between the experiment and the predictions were outlined. It has been found that the angle at which droplets impinge on the interblade channel wall has a considerable effect on characteristics of the formed secondary droplets. Verification of the model demonstrated a satisfactory agreement of the experiment with the predictions.

Characterization of wall filming and atomization inside a gas-turbine swirl injector

The internal atomization characteristics of a practical gas turbine fuel injector are investigated comprehensively using various laser flow diagnostic techniques. The injector consists of a pilot spray surrounded by a primary swirl air, with the spray impinging on a venturi prefilmer to form a liquid film that accumulates into a rim at the venturi tip, which in turn is sheared by a counter-rotating secondary swirl air. The atomizer geometry is modularized into different configurations to access the internal flow field. The quantitative measurements made are with a phase Doppler interferometer at different stages of the injector and time-resolved volume or planar laser induced fluorescence (TR-V/PLIF) imaging. The different internal atomization characteristics such as the liquid film thickness variation, size distribution of craters formed by primary spray droplets impinging on the liquid film, rim thickness at the venturi tip, and droplet size and velocity distribution at different stages are measured. It is found that the film dynamics is influenced by the droplet splashing and the shearing action of the primary air. The liquid rim at the venturi tip is the major source of droplets at the injector exit rather than the liquid film. The unsteady evolution of the multiphase flow inside the injector is dictated by the precessing vortex core of the primary swirl. However, the atomization process is mainly influenced by the central toroidal recirculation zone of the primary swirl flow and the counter-rotating shear layer acting on the accumulated liquid rim at the venturi tip.

Experimental investigation of spray characteristics of a liquid jet in a turbulent subsonic gaseous crossflow

Two perforated plates with different solidity ratios, S=50% and 67%, were used to investigate the effect of the velocity fluctuations of a subsonic gaseous crossflow on the spray characteristics of a liquid jet including droplet size and velocity distributions. The experiments were conducted over a range of jet-to-crossflow momentum flux ratio of q=16.5-172, and two gas Weber numbers of Weg=2.7 and 5.9, corresponding to the enhanced capillary breakup and bag breakup regimes, respectively. The experimental results of this study revealed that the distribution of droplets size associated with a turbulent and a uniform crossflow for each specific breakup regime were approximately identical. The bimodal and single peak distributions of droplets size, respectively, associated with enhanced capillary and bag breakup regimes were generally consistent with the literature reports. However, the transition of the liquid primary breakup regime from enhanced capillary to bag breakup mode was delayed in a turbulent crossflow compared to its uniform counterpart. The general behavior of droplets size-velocity profiles were also consistent with the literature reports. Nonetheless, complex variations in the distribution of droplets velocity when changing the crossflow turbulence intensity were observed and linked with the presence of instabilities on the liquid jet's surface. Finally, the present experiments allowed shedding more light on the reason why the breakup mechanisms of a liquid jet in a conventional uniform crossflow should not be generalized to predict the distinct breakup process of a liquid jet in a turbulent crossflow.

Formation, distribution, and movement of oil droplets in the compressor plenum

Oil is important to compressors, but it brings some side effects on the performance of refrigeration systems. Discharge valve or orifice in the compressor plenum is the gateway for the oil to leave the compressor and circulate in the system. The space of the compressor plenum has the potential to separate the oil mist from the refrigerant so that oil circulation ratio (OCR) is reduced. In this study, the formation, distribution, and movement of oil droplets in the plenum are investigated through visualization and CFD simulation. Videos of oil atomization are captured by the high-speed camera to describe how oil mist is formed. The distribution of droplet size and velocity is quantified by video processing techniques. Discrete phase model gives the numerical approach to study the oil droplet movement inside the compressor plenum. The numerical simulation is verified by comparing visualization results with simulation results. The oil flow phenomenon and its quantification provide important information for the design of separation structure incorporated in the compressor. Also, a set of tools are developed and verified to study the oil droplets behavior in different types of compressor plenums.

Effect of nanoparticles concentration on the characteristics of nanofluid sprays for cooling applications

This study addresses the effect of nanofluid synthesis on the rheological properties of the resulting fluid and their consequent effect on the characteristics (size and velocity distribution of droplets, spray cone angle, etc.) of the sprayed nanofluids. The results are discussed in the light of how the spray characteristics affect the use of the resulting nanofluid spray for cooling purposes. Nanoparticles of alumina (Al2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are mixed in water-based solutions, for concentrations varying between 0.5% and 2 mass% for alumina and between 0.01% and 0.1 mass% for the zinc oxide particles. FeCl2·4H2O (0.1 mass%) was also used to infer on the effect of the nature (material) of the particles in the physicochemical properties of the resulting solutions. Among the various surfactants tested, citric acid (0.15%) was chosen for the final working mixtures, as it assured a stable behaviour of the solutions prepared during the entire study. The nanoparticles were characterized in detail, and the physicochemical properties of the fluid were measured before and after atomization, to evaluate any possible particle loss in the liquid feeding system or retention in the atomizer. The nanofluids were sprayed using a pressure-swirl atomizer at 0.5 MPa injection pressure. Droplet size and velocity in the spray were probed using phase Doppler anemometry. For the range of experimental conditions covered here, the results show that liquid viscosity is an important parameter in predetermining the spray characteristics of nanofluids, as it affects the primary liquid breakup. Despite this, only a mild increase is observed in the nanofluids viscosity, mainly for higher concentrations of alumina, which was not sufficient to significantly affect the spray characteristics, except for a small decrease in the spray cone angle and the size of the atomized droplets. Hence, for cooling purposes, the atomization mechanisms are not compromised by the addition of the nanoparticles and their using is beneficial, as they enhance the thermal properties without a significant deterioration of other fluid properties such as viscosity and spray characteristics. Present spray characteristics promote liquid adhesion to the cooling surfaces and droplet size and velocity are kept within a range that is appropriate for spray cooling, following the literature recommendations and our analysis.

Near-field dynamics of high-speed spray dryer coannular two fluid nozzle: Effects of operational conditions and formulations

The scaling-up of spray drying processes is an important and challenging step in commercializing specialty products with an ensured quality because it mandates a comprehensive understanding of several steps in the process such as atomization, efficient solvent removal, and particle segregation. The formation of needed particle sizes and shapes is impossible without appropriate atomization through spray dryer nozzles. Hence, research is discussed that investigates the atomization mechanism for a pilot scale externally-mixed, two-fluid nozzle spray dryer by using time resolved particle-image velocimetry to study the behavior of droplets in the near-field of the nozzle tip. Important near-field dynamics of droplets emanating from the nozzle are described, and particle formation characteristics are discussed for several formulations which are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Spray angle, droplet breakup length, and droplet sizes and velocity distributions are characterized. Understanding these parameters assists the interpretation of particle formation and enables the modeling of the spray drying process.

Dual-mode nonlinear instability analysis of a confined planar liquid sheet sandwiched between two gas streams of unequal velocities and prediction of droplet size and velocity distribution using maximum entropy formulation

Twin fluid atomizers utilize the kinetic energy of high speed gases to disintegrate a liquid sheet into fine uniform droplets. Quite often, the gas streams are injected at unequal velocities to enhance the aerodynamic interaction between the liquid sheet and surrounding atmosphere. In order to improve the mixing characteristics, practical atomizers confine the gas flows within ducts. Though the liquid sheet coming out of an injector is usually annular in shape, it can be considered to be planar as the mean radius of curvature is much larger than the sheet thickness. There are numerous studies on breakup of the planar liquid sheet, but none of them considered the simultaneous effects of confinement and unequal gas velocities on the spray characteristics. The present study performs a nonlinear temporal analysis of instabilities in the planar liquid sheet, produced by two co-flowing gas streams moving with unequal velocities within two solid walls. The results show that the para-sinuous mode dominates the breakup process at all flow conditions over the para-varicose mode of breakup. The sheet pattern is strongly influenced by gas velocities, particularly for the para-varicose mode. Spray characteristics are influenced by both gas velocity and proximity to the confining wall, but the former has a much more pronounced effect on droplet size. An increase in the difference between gas velocities at two interfaces drastically shifts the droplet size distribution toward finer droplets. Moreover, asymmetry in gas phase velocities affects the droplet velocity distribution more, only at low liquid Weber numbers for the input conditions chosen in the present study.

Prediction of droplet size and velocity distribution for spray formation due to wave-body interactions

This study addresses the development of a statistical tool for predicting the distribution of the size and velocity of droplets in spray caused by the interaction of waves with a marine object. The Maximum Entropy Principle (MEP) is a statistical tool that allows the prediction of a probability distribution that is consistent with information from the input system. The prediction satisfies constraint equations covering the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. The velocity distribution of droplets is Gaussian in shape. The effect of a drag force on both the liquid sheet that is formed from the wave impact as well as the downstream distribution of droplets was considered in this simulation. The examination of the mechanisms of turbulence diffusion in a wave at the moment of impact with an object provides a logical, analytical relationship between the wave flows and a spray cloud formation after impact. The model prediction is compared with the experimental data of spray-cloud formation due to wave impact from a lab-scale model, and is found to be in good agreement. The prediction model is then applied to the full-scale model based on the data from previous field observations to predict the droplet size and velocity distributions of spray cloud due to the wave interactions with the vessel.

Characterization of a simplex water mist nozzle and its performance in extinguishing liquid pool fire

Pressure swirl nozzles are often employed in water mist fire suppression systems. In the present work, a single head full cone simplex nozzle with X-type swirl-insert and an orifice diameter of 1.2 mm is used to produce water mist. The objectives are to experimentally measure different characteristics of the spray and investigate extinction performance of diesel pool fires of size 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 m. Discharge coefficient and spray cone angle are measured and correlations are presented as functions of Reynolds numbers (Re, based on orifice diameter). Mass flux density of the spray is measured with a patternator designed considering possible asymmetry in the spray. Droplet size and velocity distributions are measured using a particle droplet image analyser (PDIA) system for 28,850 ≤ Re ≤ 35,800 and axial distances from the nozzle (0.75 ≤ z ≤ 1.75 m). Experimentally measured droplet number distributions are characterized by modified log-normal distribution. Rosin-Rammler and modified Rosin-Rammler model are presented to predict droplet volume distributions. Correlations are presented for calculating parameters of these models in order to describe droplet size distribution (DSD) for any combination of Re and z. Relative span factor (RSF), Sauter mean diameter (SMD), and average velocity of the spray are measured. Correlations for SMD and average velocity are presented as functions of experimental variables. The extinction performances are investigated through video recording for 28,850 ≤ Re ≤ 35,800 and various vertical distances between the nozzle and the fuel surface (0.75–2 m). Extinction performance of the nozzle in the present work is compared with the other performances of different water mist systems reported in the literature.

Hydrocyclone Separation Efficiency Modeled by Flow Resistances and Droplet Trajectories

The growing demand to optimize the deoiling performance for offshore oil & gas gives the incentive to improve existing control solutions by means of model-based control solutions. This paper proposes a separation efficiency grey-box model of a deoiling hydrocyclone. Grey-box modeling of deoiling hydrocyclones aims to combine knowledge from fluid dynamics with the data-driven parameter estimation to yield better accuracy than black-box derived models while keeping the computational load much lower than CFD-simulations. The model has to be reasonably accurate in all likely operating conditions and be computed in real-time, in order to be beneficial for advanced model-based control. The developed grey-box model is based on flow resistance and oil droplet trajectory analysis. The model functionally describes how the valve openings, inflow rates, and PDR set-points affect separation efficiency of the considered generic deoiling hydrocyclone. The results are reasonable and provide a fundamental overview of how the operational conditions affect separation efficiency. The model can be extended to account for changes in the axial velocity distribution, coalescence and breakup of droplets.

Study on separation abilities of moisture separators based on droplet collision models

Moisture separators are widely used for eliminating the droplets from the gas–water/steam mixture flows. The volume fraction of droplets is often not small in most separators, so the collision behavior of droplets is crucial in changing their velocity, size and number distributions to affect the separation abilities of these separators. In this paper, the collision models of droplets are established to simulate the droplet-laden flows in the moisture separators. First, a stochastic searching algorithm to find the collision droplet pairs is performed by utilizing the collision kernels and defining the mean free path of a droplet. Second, the criteria to distinguish the different regimes of binary droplet collision are carried out. The regime map drawn by these criteria is highly consistent with that from previous experiments. Third, a set of formulas to predict the velocity, size and number distributions of droplets after bouncing, coalescence, reflexive and stretching separation are proposed based on the conservation law and some empirical relations. Finally, the separation abilities of the cyclone and swirl-vane separators are investigated by simulating the droplet-laden flows coupled with the droplet collision models. As for the cyclone, the simulation separation efficiencies are in good agreement with the experimental data. It is further shown that the separation efficiency curve begins to climb up very quickly in the region with small droplet diameters, and then keep constant as the droplet diameter increasing. As for the swirl-vane separators, the simulated separation efficiencies are little larger than those of the experiment within 5% difference, which is mainly due to the fact that coalescence dominates the collision behaviors from the simulation results. The theoretical and simulation results show that these collision models present a new view to study the flowing behaviors of the droplets in the moisture separators.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Biodiesel Blends on a DI Diesel Engine’s Injection and Combustion

Differences in the evolution of combustion in a single cylinder, DI (direct injection) diesel engine fuelled by B20 were observed upon processing of the respective indicator diagrams. Aiming to further investigate the effects of biodiesel on the engine injection and combustion process, the injection characteristics of B0, B20, B40, B60, B80 and B100 were measured at low injection pressure and visualized at low and standard injection pressures. The fuel atomization characteristics were investigated in terms of mean droplet velocity, Sauter mean diameter, droplet velocity and diameter distributions by using a spray visualization system and Laser Doppler Velocimetry. The jet break-up characteristics are mainly influenced by the Weber number, which is lower for biodiesel, mainly due to its higher surface tension. Thus, Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of sprays with biodiesel blended-fuel is higher. Volume mean diameter (VMD) and arithmetic mean diameter (AMD) values also increase with blending ratio. Kinematic viscosity and surface tension become higher as the biodiesel blending ratio increases. The SMD, VMD and AMD of diesel and biodiesel blended fuels decreased with an increase in the axial distance from spray tip. Comparison of estimated fuel burning rates for 60,000 droplets’ samples points to a decrease in mean fuel burning rate for B20 and higher blends.

Multiscale simulations and experiments on water jet atomization

Numerical simulation of primary atomization at high Reynolds number is still a challenging problem. In this work a multiscale approach for the numerical simulation of liquid jet primary atomization is applied, using an Eulerian-Lagrangian coupling. In this approach, an Eulerian volume of fluid (VOF) method, where the Reynolds stresses are closed by a Reynolds stress model is applied to model the global spreading of the liquid jet. The formation of the micro-scale droplets, which are usually smaller than the grid spacing in the computational domain, is modelled by an energy-based sub-grid model. Where the disruptive forces (turbulence and surface pressure) of turbulent eddies near the surface of the jet overcome the capillary forces, droplets are released with the local properties of the corresponding eddies. The dynamics of the generated droplets are modelled using Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT). A numerical coupling between the Eulerian and Lagrangian frames is then established via source terms in conservation equations. As a follow-up study to our investigation in Saeedipour et al. (2016a), the present paper aims at modelling drop formation from liquid jets at high Reynolds numbers in the atomization regime and validating the simulation results against in-house experiments. For this purpose, phase-Doppler anemometry (PDA) was used to measure the droplet size and velocity distributions in sprays produced by water jet breakup at different Reynolds numbers in the atomization regime. The spray properties, such as droplet size spectra, local and global Sauter-mean drop sizes and velocity distributions obtained from the simulations are compared with experiment at various locations with very good agreement.