Droplet Momentum Research Articles

Numerical simulation of detonation propagation and extinction in two-phase gas-droplet ammonia fuel

Numerical simulations of detonation propagation and extinction in ammonia droplet-laden premixed ammonia–oxygen gas are performed in a 2-D planar channel. The sustained propagation and ultimate quenching of detonation with perturbations from ammonia droplets are observed under lower and larger values of initial droplet number density (Nd,0) and diameter (d0), respectively. The detonation always quenches under d0=15μm. The detonation propagation/extinction behaviour and cell structure are dependent on both d0 and Nd,0. The positive correlations between droplet volume fraction, inter-phase mass, momentum, and energy transfers and d0 are more nonlinear than their counterparts of Nd,0. The post-Mach stem region experiences higher-intensity detonative combustion and thus droplet evaporative, accelerative, and heating effects than the post-incident wave region. During the detonation extinction process, the detonation wave degenerates into detonative spots which then decouple into shock and reaction fronts; gaseous pressure, heat release rate, and nitric oxide volume fraction peaks decline.

Performance analysis of natural draft power plant cooling tower: Mathematical modeling of cross-flow type, application in capital cities of Iranian provinces

Cooling towers are heat exchangers that reduce the hot water temperature produced by process equipment through heat and mass transfer between water and air stream. This study investigates the performance of cross-flow cooling towers under various geometrical, physical, and environmental conditions. For this purpose, thermodynamic modeling of the cross-flow cooling tower was conducted, and the governing equations were numerically solved using the finite difference method. Unlike previous studies, the effects of water droplet deformation into an elliptical shape during its fall along the cooling tower were also considered. This deformation, which influences the drag coefficient, Reynolds number of the water droplets, droplet surface area, and its cross-section area, along with the incorporation of buoyancy force in the droplet momentum equation, led to an improvement in the results. Consequently, the maximum computational error in this case was reduced to 1.97 %, compared to the scenario where droplet deformation and buoyancy force were neglected. The change in geometrical parameters of the tower in Tehran and Rasht was investigated, revealing that increasing the outlet radius of the tower from 20 m to 22.5 m decreased the outlet water temperature by 1.21 °C and 0.67 °C and increased the thermal efficiency of the tower by 4.94 % and 2.88 % respectively, while increasing the tower height from 100 m to 120 m, only decreased the outlet water temperature by 0.47 °C and 0.26 °C, and increased the thermal efficiency of the tower by 1.89 % and 1.09 % respectively. Additionally, the cooling tower performance was assessed in the centers of different provinces .of Iran. Results showed that with an initial droplet radius of 1 mm and an inlet water temperature of 50 °C, the maximum and minimum temperature reductions occurred in Shahrekord by 20.16 °C and Bandarabbas by 12.37 °C, respectively.

Transfer of a rational formulation and process development approach for 2D inks for pharmaceutical 2D and 3D printing

The field of pharmaceutical 3D printing is growing over the past year, with Spitam® as the first 3D printed dosage form on the market. Showing the suitability of a binder jetting process for dosage forms. Although the development of inks for pharmaceutical field is more trail and error based, focusing on the Z-number as key parameter to judge the printability of an ink. To generate a more knowledgeable based ink development an approach from electronics printing was transferred to the field of pharmaceutical binder jetting. Therefore, a dimensionless space was used to investigate the limits of printability for the used Spectra S Class SL-128 piezo print head using solvent based inks. The jettability of inks could now be judged based on the capillary and weber number. Addition of different polymers into the ink narrowed the printable space and showed, that the ink development purely based on Z-numbers is not suitable to predict printability. Two possible ink candidates were developed based on the droplet momentum which showed huge differences in process stability, indicating that the used polymer type and concentration has a high influence on printability and process stability. Based on the study a more knowledgeable based ink design for the field of pharmaceutical binder jetting is proposed, to shift the ink design to a more knowledgeable based and process-oriented approach.

Erosion characteristics of water droplet machining

Water Droplet Machining (WDM) is a new manufacturing process, which uses a series of high-velocity, pure-water droplets to impact and erode solid workpieces, for the purpose of through-cutting, milling and surface profiling. The process is conducted within a vacuum environment to suppress aerodynamic drag and atomization of the waterjet and droplet train. This preserves droplet momentum and allows for a more efficient transfer of energy between the water and workpiece, than in standard atmospheric pressure. As a new manufacturing technique, parameter-specific details and characteristics of this process are absent from the scientific literature. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the capabilities of WDM, and uncover its erosion characteristics. Experiments are performed using a custom-fabricated machine, where a range of waterjet-types (and droplet trains) are produced. The experiments are performed on two industrial-relevant metals: stainless steel SS 316 L and aluminum AA 6022-T4. The target shape is a partial-cut through the material, i.e., a trench. A parametric study investigates the effects of stand-off distance, orifice diameter, and feed-rate on the trench shape, material-removal-rate, and reveals the conditions which render WDM an effective machining process. It was found that, for orifice diameters of 100 μm, an effective stand-off distance is between 457 and 686 mm; below that, no material removal is observed. In this configuration, accurate through-cuts are produced and can be used for manufacturing purposes. For large orifice diameters, e.g., 250 μm, an atomized spray is produced, which features a comparatively large material removal rate, and can be used for surface profiling and milling.

Study on the influence of airflow disturbance on spray atomization

The droplet distribution characteristics are one of the key factors that determine the dust suppression effect of spray system. In order to study the droplet distribution characteristics under different working conditions, the influence mechanism of wind speed and spray angle on droplet distribution characteristics was studied based on Fluent software. The results show that the increase of wind speed and spray angle will increase the lateral momentum of droplets, resulting in the increase of longitudinal height and lateral length of spray belt. The change of spray angle causes the change of the distribution ratio of transverse momentum and longitudinal momentum of droplets. With the increase of spray angle, the transverse momentum of droplets increases and the longitudinal momentum decreases, resulting in the increase of the longitudinal height and length of spray belt. In engineering practice, attention should be paid to the coordinated control of nozzle height, spray angle and airflow speed.

Droplet orthogonal impact on nonuniform wettability surfaces

AbstractThe vast majority of prior studies on droplet impact have focused on collisions of liquid droplets with spatially homogeneous (i.e., uniform‐wettability) surfaces. But in recent years, there has been growing interest on droplet impact on nonuniform wettability surfaces, which are more relevant in practice. This paper presents first an experimental study of axisymmetric droplet impact on wettability‐patterned surfaces. The experiments feature millimeter‐sized water droplets impacting centrally with on a flat surface that has a circular region of wettability (Area 1) surrounded by a region of wettability (Area 2), where (i.e., outer domain is less wettable than the inner one). Depending upon the droplet momentum at impact, the experiments reveal the existence of three possible regimes of axisymmetric spreading, namely (I) interior (only within Area 1) spreading, (II) contact‐line entrapment at the periphery of Area 1, and (III) exterior (extending into Area 2) spreading. We present an analysis based on energetic principles for , and further extend it for cases where (i.e., the outer domain is more wettable than the inner one). The experimental observations are consistent with the scaling and predictions of the analytical model, thus outlining a strategy for predicting droplet impact behavior for more complex wettability patterns.

High-Performance Directional Water Transport Using a Two-Dimensional Periodic Janus Gradient Structure.

Numerous materials in micro- or nanoscale hierarchical structures with surface gradients serve as the enablers in directional liquid transportation. However, concurrent high-speed and long-range liquid transport is yet to be fully realized so far. Here, an overall-improved approach is achieved in both water transport distance and velocity aspects using a 2D periodic Janus gradient structure, which is inspired by the Janus-wettable desert beetle back, tapered asymmetric cacti spine, and periodic Nepenthes alata microcavity. This 2D channel can efficiently regulate the kinetics of liquid transport within its confined structure, in which the terminal potential well and periodic Janus topological structure enable sustaining water propelling through a long distance. In addition, the rapidly formed aqueous film facilitates a high initial momentum and fast transport of liquid droplets along the channel, achieving an averaged velocity of over 400mm s-1 and a maximum normalized transport distance of 23.4 for a 3µL droplet, as well as an ultralow liquid volume loss of 6.02% upon high-flux water transport. This scalable, controllable, and easy-fabricable 2D water transport system provides an insightful pathway in realizing high-performance water manipulation and possibly facilitates substantial innovative applications in multidisciplinary fields.

65 kHz picosecond digital off-axis holographic imaging of 3D droplet trajectory in a kerosene swirl spray flame

It is difficult to track fuel droplets in a swirl spray combustion field due to three-dimensional (3D) movement and turbulent flame influence. The present work carries out an experimental study to investigate and track the dispersed kerosene droplets in a swirl spray combustion field. RP-3 kerosene and air are mixed and burned in open space under different mixture ratios. Pulsed high-speed (65 kHz) digital off-axis holography with an equivalent pixel size of 9.3 μm is adopted to visualize and quantify the droplet size, 3D position and velocity. The measurement uncertainty of the technique is calibrated and discussed. The turbulent flame of hydrocarbon fuel causes some darker speckles in the morphology view, but droplet images are clear and the initial droplet size distribution at 1 mm downstream of the swirler is obtained. A particle tracking algorithm considering x, y and z with different locating errors and droplet diameter is proposed and applied to obtain droplet trajectory. Smoothed droplet trajectories are obtained through multi-frame tracking and trajectory regressing methods. From the perspective of the Lagrangian view, droplet momentum and size oscillation are also observed and discussed.

Optimization of the pitch to chord ratio for a cascade turbine blade in wet steam flow

• Optimization by GA is used to gain the suitable pitch to chord ratio for a blade. • WF, ADR, MO, PL, and IE at the exit of the cascade turbine blade are the objectives. • A pitch to chord ratio of Pi/AC = 0.76 is suggested. • The modified Zweifel coefficient for wet steam flow in the cascade is proposed C Z F = 0.62 . • The wetness and radius decrease 3.59% and 1.94%, and the momentum increases 7.28%. This study has used shape optimization by the genetic algorithm to gain the suitable pitch to axial chord ratio for a cascade turbine blade. The innovation of the present paper is the modification of the Zweifel coefficient for the wet steam flow passing through the steam turbine cascade. Wetness fraction (WF), average droplet radius (ADR), momentum (MO), pressure loss (PL), and isentropic efficiency (IE) at the exit of the cascade turbine blade in wet steam flow are selected as the objective functions. The ultimate goal was to minimize the wetness fraction, average droplet radius at the outlet of the blade, and pressure losses of the passage and maximize the efficiency and momentum at the outlet together. The Navier-Stokes equations, S S T k - ω turbulence model, and the Eulerian-Eulerian approach are applied for modeling the condensing flow. The agreement gained between the numerical results and the experimental results is satisfactory. A pitch to axial chord ratio of Pi/AC = 0.76 is suggested, and the modified Zweifel coefficient for wet steam flow in the cascade is proposed C Z F = 0.62 . In the optimal case, the wetness fraction and the average droplet radius at the outlet decrease 3.59% and 1.94%, respectively, and the momentum increases 7.28%. In addition, the optimal case compares with original case, the isentropic efficiency decreases 2.48% and the pressure losses increases 2.15%.

Computational Simulations of Spray Cooling with Air-Assist Injectors

A new computational procedure for simulating air-assist flat sprays with atomization is described and demonstrated for surface cooling applications. This procedure builds upon and utilizes findings from our previous work; particularly the integral form of the conservation equations which are used to derive explicit quadratic formulas for drop size. These formulations relate the local energetic state to initial drop size produced by primary atomization processes. In this manner, the local liquid and gas phase velocities prior to atomization are used in the quadratic formula to provide the initial drop size and the appropriate local velocities are utilized as the initial droplet momentum state in a discrete particle tracking algorithm. This procedure has been performed and compared to experimental data for drop size and velocity. This furnishes a platform to further study the effects of droplet distributions on heat transfer and momentum transfer between the spray and a heated metal surface. This approach is based on the conservation principles and generalizable, so that it can easily be implemented in any spray geometry for accurate and efficient computations of two-phase flows including spray cooling.

High-Efficiency Directional Ejection of Coalesced Drops on a Circular Groove.

Coalescence-induced drop jumping has received significant attention in the past decade. However, its application remains challenging as a result of the low energy conversion efficiency and uncontrollable drop jumping direction. In this work, we report the high-efficiency coalescence-induced drop jumping with tunable jumping direction via rationally designed millimeter-sized circular grooves. By increasing the surface-droplet impact site area and restricting the oscillatory deformation, the energy conversion efficiency of the jumping droplet reaches 43.5%, 600% as high as the conventional superhydrophobic surfaces. The droplet jumping direction can be tuned from 90° to 60° by varying the principal curvature of the circular groove, while the energy conversion efficiency remains unchanged. We show through theoretical analysis and numerical simulations that the directional jumping mainly originates from reallocation of droplet momentum enabled by the asymmetric liquid bridge impact. Our study demonstrates a simple yet effective method for fast, efficient, and directional droplet removal, which warrants promising applications in jumping droplet condensation, water harvesting, anti-icing, and self-cleaning.

Experimental study of the effect of various collision angles and critical conditions on marine engine’s twin-spray collision process

To enhance the fuel-gas mixing and phase transition process, the fuel is injected by twin injectors in a large-bore low-speed two-stroke marine engine, while the cylinder condition has reached the transcritical and supercritical conditions. The twin-injector configuration has a great potential for further optimization, but the exploration on the outcome of collision and phase transition was still limited. Therefore, this work aims to study the effect of various collision angles (60°, 90°, 120°, 150°) and critical conditions (sub/trans/supercritical) on the twin-spray collision process using optical techniques. A wide range of experimental cases are conducted to provide an analysis and database for future modeling validation. The post-collisional spray structures, spatial distribution, and periphery features are analyzed to characterize the droplet’s collision. The results show that with the collision angle increasing, the higher collision velocity enhances the mass transfer while the minor vertical component results in a smaller axial dispersion. Because of the trade-off relationship between the vertical velocity component and pre-collision penetration, a higher reduction in droplet momentum results in a slighter collision behavior. At the collision angle of 150°, the subcritical condition tends to result in an off-axis collision. Under the transcritical (P) condition, the probability of head-on collision increases and presents a wider spatial distribution. But under the supercritical condition, because of the existence of the liquid collision, the thermal conversion among phases is accelerated, while the ambient resistance is reduced. Moreover, an exponential correlation of collision liquid length is formulated to predict the axial dispersion based on various critical conditions.

Dynamics of fog droplets on a harp wire.

Fog harps effectively drain small droplets, which prevents clogging and results in more water harvested from fog compared to mesh nets. However, the dynamics of fog droplets coalescing and sliding down a vertical wire remain poorly understood. Here, we develop an analytical model that captures the physics of fog droplets draining down a single vertical wire. The driving forces are gravity and the surface energy released from coalescence events, whereas the dominant resisting forces are revealed to be inertia, contact angle hysteresis, and local viscous dissipation within the droplet's receding wedge. The average sliding velocity of fog droplets on a Teflon-coated wire was only half that of an uncoated stainless steel wire, due to non-coalescence events exclusive to the hydrophobic wire disrupting the momentum of droplet sliding.

High-Velocity Air–Water Flow Measurements in a Prototype Tunnel Chute: Scaling of Void Fraction and Interfacial Velocity

Aeration occurs in many natural and human-made flows and must be considered in engineering design. In water infrastructure, air–water flows can be violent and of very high velocity. To date, most fundamental research and engineering design guidelines involving air–water flows have been based upon laboratory scale measurements with limited validation at prototype scale with larger Reynolds numbers. Herein, unique measurements were conducted in high-velocity air–water flows in the tunnel chute of the 225-m-high Luzzone arch Dam in Switzerland. For each of the two test series, an array of 16 double-tip conductivity probes was installed in the circular tunnel chute of 3 m diameter and slope of ≈37° measuring void fraction, bubble count rate, interfacial velocity, and droplet sizes for four different discharges of up to 15.9 m3/s corresponding to Reynolds numbers of up to 2.4 × 107 and mean flow velocities of up to 38 m/s. Void fraction and interfacial velocity distributions, as well as design parameters such as depth-averaged void fractions and flow resistance, compared well with previous laboratory studies and empirical equations. The droplet chord sizes exhibited scale effects, and care must be taken if air–water mass transfer and droplet momentum exchange processes are assessed at the laboratory scale.

Central liquid jet emanating from an impacting drop on superheated laser-ablated surfaces

Drop impacts on superheated textured surfaces have been studied extensively due to the unique characteristics arising from the roughness, which can be controlled through texturing features. The characteristics include novel modifications of the wettability and boiling regimes. The increased roughness of a textured surface also results in an unusual phenomenon where a central liquid jet emanates from an impinging drop. The central jet can interfere with the designated objective of textures or can be used in other applications, but it has rarely been reported and analyzed. Therefore, this study provides detailed and quantitative information on the central jet. With sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions, the impact and boiling behaviors including the central jet are clearly acquired and explained. The time-resolved height and speed of the jets are correlated to varying impact conditions such as the impact momentum of droplets, roughness and temperature of the surfaces. To understand and estimate the origin of the central jet, we also analyze several key findings, such as the motion of a cluster of vapor bubbles and the rim pattern of contact boiling. In addition, a hypothetical mechanism of the jet formation is proposed based on experimental evidence and a simplified heat transfer situation.

Single droplet impingement of urea water solution on heated porous surfaces

The droplet/wall interaction of urea water solution on surfaces with varying properties is one decisive element for the detailed understanding of liquid film formation in the exhaust gas system of diesel-powered engines. An experimental study was conducted on the single droplet impingement of urea water solution on porous steel surfaces. The outcome of droplet impact was investigated under variation of droplet momentum, wall temperature and surface properties such as pore diameter and surface roughness. Droplet impact is recorded by high-speed shadowgraphy. The results allow the development of regime maps describing the hydrodynamic and thermal phenomena deposition, splash, boiling induced breakup, total rebound and rebound with breakup as a function of dimensionless parameters. Based on systematic investigations the influence of surface properties on the transition boundaries can be shown. The porosity of the sample leads to a significant shift of the wetting boundary to higher temperatures, as the evolving vapour between droplet and surface can escape through the pores. The regimes partial rebound with breakup and partial rebound are introduced to describe the single droplet impingement on porous surfaces. The experimental results serve as database for modelling the droplet/wall interaction in the selective catalytic reduction system.

A novel piezoelectric structure for harvesting energy from water droplet: Theoretical and experimental studies

Toward applications for supplying low-energy consumed devices like remote sensors, a novel structure of piezoelectric substrate is proposed by combining polyvinylidene fluoride beams with elastic film, which shows higher performance than typical cantilever and fixed-fixed structures in collecting energy from water droplet impact. To evaluate the performance, the electromechanical behaviors of substrate are studied by conducting droplet impact tests and also with the aid of the developed theoretical model. Results show that there exists an optimal design of parameters which can lead to higher peak voltage and energy collected than single cantilever beam. The predicted results also show that based on similarity principle, the beam surface can be greatly enlarged to collect more energy from the same impact momentum of water droplet so as to satisfy different scales of energy requirement. By making use of the great elasticity of film under fixed-fixed configuration, the tension in the film can be adjusted to adapt with various occasions of utilization that when the film is successively tightened, the peak voltage is gradually reduced while the vibration frequency is increased. Moreover, it is not sensitive to the impact location of water droplet as for the cantilever beam, which can indeed provide larger collecting area of water in practical utilizations. Overall, improvements have been made by the proposed structure in energy conversion efficiency, the scale of energy recovery and flexibility in applications. This work also lays a foundation for further practical utilizations of the proposed structure in a wide range of engineering fields such as the rain energy harvesting technology.

Spray Cooling Heat Transfer above Leidenfrost Temperature

This study considers spray cooling starting at surface temperatures of about 1200 °C and finishing at the Leidenfrost temperature. Cooling is in the film boiling regime. The paper uses experimental techniques for the study of which spray parameters are necessary for good prediction of spray cooling intensity. The research is based on experiments with water and air-mist nozzles. The following spray parameters were measured together with a heat transfer coefficient: water flowrate, water impingement density, impact pressure, droplet size and velocity. Derived parameters as droplet kinetic energy, droplet momentum and droplet Reynolds number are used in the tested correlations as well. Ten combinations of spray parameters used for correlation functions for the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) are studied and discussed. Correlation functions for prediction of HTC are presented and it is shown which spray parameters are necessary for reliable computation of HTC. The best results were obtained when the parameters impact pressure and water impingement density were used together. It was proven that the correlations based only on water impingement density, which are the most frequent in literature, can not provide reliable results.

The potential of wire feed pulsation to influence factors that govern weld penetration in GMA welding

Derivative welding processes are in many cases capable of altering phenomena that determine fundamental aspects of weld bead formation. Some of these evolutions act over the wire feed dynamics. However, in this scenario, the effects of the wire feed pulsation on the weld bead formation governing factors have not been fully explored yet. Therefore, this work aimed at examining how a wire feed pulsation approach affects the droplet transfer in gas metal arc welding and how its interaction with the molten pool defines the weld bead penetration. Bead-on-plate weldments were produced by varying the wire feed pulsation frequency, yet keeping the same levels of arc energy and wire feed speed, with the power source operating in constant voltage and current modes. To assess the droplet transfer behavior, high-speed imaging was used. The geometry of the weld beads was compared in terms of fusion penetration. The results showed that an increase in the wire feed pulsation frequency intensifies the detachment frequency of the droplets, being possible to accomplish a stable metal transfer with them straightly projected toward the weld pool, which contributed to a centralized-increased penetration profile. Based on a descriptive model, it was demonstrated that the increase in droplet momentum or kinetic energy, due to the wire feed pulsation, was not enough to justify the penetration enhancement. It was concluded that the wire feed dynamics can also stimulate surface tension variations in the weld pool and therefore disrupt the behavior of its mass and heat convection, supporting fusion penetration.

Influence of atomizing core on droplet dynamic behavior and machining characteristics under synergistically enhanced twin-fluid spray

The droplet dynamic behavior of spraying during the manufacturing process affects tool life, cooling, and lubrication. A detailed understanding of droplet dynamic behavior is required to improve the surface quality while reducing the cutting fluid consumption. In this study, quantitative measurements for droplet diameter, number concentration, and axial velocity were carried out through a phase Doppler particle analyzer technique. The droplet characteristic spatial distributions of a standard twin-fluid nozzle (STN) and a novel twin-fluid nozzle (NTN) under different gas-to-liquid mass ratio (GLR) values were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the high-speed internal gas flow of an atomizing core has a significant effect on improving the synergistically enhanced atomization behavior, and more smaller droplets and an increased droplet momentum are easily obtained. Furthermore, a better spatial distribution of atomization characteristics can be achieved under a higher GLR of 4.3%. Furthermore, the effects of the novel atomizing core structural parameters on the droplet mean velocity spatial distribution, droplet turbulence, and root mean square velocity fluctuation were investigated. The results also showed that the improved NTN can effectively improve the spray atomization performance and droplet dynamic characteristics. In addition, comparative studies of the effect of the atomizing core structure on the machining performance were performed. Compared with the STN, the improved NTN achieves a significant reduction in cutting temperature, tool wear, and surface roughness of 17.25%, 33.96%, and 37.83%, respectively, owing to the better droplet dynamic characteristics and spatial distribution of spray atomization characteristics.