화학공학소재연구정보센터
International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol.28, No.1, 93-104, 2002
Dripping phenomena of water droplets impacted on horizontal wire screens
The dripping phenomena of water droplets impacted on horizontal wire screens at isothermal condition were studied. Uniform droplet streams of about 350 mum in diameters with a velocity of 2.8 m/s were produced using a piezo-electric droplet generator. The wire diameter of the screens ranged from a coarse screen of 1.6 mm with 2 x 2 meshes per linear inch to a fine screen of 0.14 mm with 100 x 100 meshes. For droplets impinging on the coarse wire screens, they wet the wires and form thin liquid clusters. As these clusters of water accumulate around the wires, dripping drops are produced on the bottom side of the wires as well as at the corners of the meshes. The phenomena are very similar to the dripping drops formed beneath single wires. For screens with medium size opening, the dripping drops are mostly formed at the mesh stitch apertures surrounded by the wires. For fine mesh screens, the liquid films on the top surface pass through the fine mesh openings and form liquid ligaments at the bottom side of the screen. This resembles the situation of drops dripping from a ceiling. In all cases, the drops gradually evolve into a pendent shape under the influence of surface tension and gravity. Eventually, the weight of the pendent drop exceeds the surface tension and the drop falls off from the bottom of the screen. Non-dimensional parameters have been used to identify the dripping characteristics and to quantify the size of the dripping drops.