Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.95, No.9, 1781-1788, 2017
PRIMARY ATOMATION OF ELECTRIFIED WATER SPRAYS
This study reports experimental results on the primary jet breakup parameters of three hollow cone hydraulic spray nozzles electrified by induction. While former evidence indicated that the properties of sprayed droplets are scarcely affected by induction charging, we found that an increase in charging potential from 0 kV to - 10 kV led to a reduction of breakup length and an increase of spray angle. For charging potential from - 10 kV and - 12 kV both the parameters reached asymptotic levels. As for electrosprays, we argue that jet breakup reduction modifications depend on the establishment of electrical stresses over the water sheet, while spray angle enlargements depend on the repulsion forces caused by induced charges. In most of the cases, these modifications are not sufficient to change the secondary atomization regime, but they severely affect the charging level of sprayed droplets.