Drop Size and Velocity Distributions of Bio-Oil Spray Produced by Airblast Atomizer

The simultaneous drop size and velocity distribution are often desirable to optimize a liquid fuel atomization system and understand the spray dynamics completely. In the present experimental work, the swirl airblast atomizer is employed to fragment the central liquid jet with the fast-moving annular swirl atomizing air at ambient conditions. The spray characteristics of the vegetable oil are contrasted with the baseline water. The drop size and velocity components are measured simultaneously using the Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer technique. The two sprays are contrasted based on the Weber number distributions, droplet size, and velocities joint probability distributions (JPDFs). The results show that the adverse physical properties of the liquid fluid deteriorate the atomization process by raising the input energy required to overcome the viscous effects and suppress the radial growth of the spray due to the dampening of the tangential momentum while preserving the breakup morphology.