Size distribution of exhaled particles in the range from 0.01 to 2.0 μm

This study investigates the number size distribution of endogenously produced exhaled particles during tidal breathing and breathing with airway closure. This is the first time that the region below 0.4 μm has been investigated. The particle concentration was generally lower for tidal breathing than for airway closure, although the inter-individual variation was large. During tidal breathing, the size distribution peaks at around 0.07 μm. This peak is still present during the airway closure manoeuvre, but an additional broad and strong peak is found between 0.2 and 0.5 μm. This suggests that different mechanisms govern the generation of particles in the two cases. The particles produced from airway closure may be attributed to formation of film droplets in the distal bronchioles during inhalation. It is speculated that the very small particles are film droplets originating from the alveolar region.     

Numerical simulation and experimental study of the characteristics of packing feature size on liquid flow in a rotating packed bed

Rotating packed bed has high efficiency of gas–liquid mass transfer. So it is significant to investigate fluid motion in rotating packed bed. Numerical simulations of the effects of packing feature size on liquid flow characteristics in a rotating packed bed are reported in this paper. The particle image velocimetry is compared with the numerical simulations to validate the turbulent model. Results show that the liquid exists in the packing zone in the form of droplet and liquid line, and the cavity is droplet. When the radial thickness of the packing is less than 0.101 m, liquid line and droplets appear in the cavity. When rotational speed and radial thickness of the packing increase, the average diameter of the droplets becomes smaller, and the droplet size distribution becomes uniform. As the initial velocity of the liquid increases, the average droplet diameter increases and the uniformity of particle size distribution become worse. The droplet velocity increases with the radial thickness of the packing increasing, and gradually decreases when it reaches the cavity region. The effect of packing thickness is most substantial through linear fitting. The predicted and simulated values are within ±15%. The cumulative volume distribution curves of the experimental and simulated droplets are consistent with the R-R distribution.     

多液滴同步冲击液膜时中间薄膜射流形成机理与动力学特征

采用耦合水平集-流体体积（coupled level set and volume of fluid）方法结合高斯随机分布扰动对多液滴同步冲击平面液膜飞溅过程进行了三维数值模拟,通过分析压力、速度等细微场量分布,揭示了中间薄膜射流的生成、破碎以及后期柱状射流的形成机理。此外,讨论了Weber数、液膜厚度、液滴间距对薄膜射流高度的作用规律。结果表明,在液相加入高斯分布扰动后可以充分反映液滴冲击飞溅特征;相邻液滴颈部区域射流接触后,接触区压力梯度骤然升高,与流体运动间断共同作用下形成向上运动的薄膜射流,随后在流体不稳定性与气相涡流作用下发生破碎;薄膜射流高度随Weber数和液膜厚度升高而增大,液滴间距减小时,射流高度增大。     

The Experimental Observation and Modelling of Film Thinning and Film Retraction during the Interfacial Coalescence of Biodiesel and Glycerol Droplets

This paper is concerned with the way interfacial coalescence of a single drop of biodiesel or glycerol occurs at a glycerol/biodiesel interface. Two stages of interfacial coalescence were studied: the thinning of the trapped liquid film between the rising or falling droplet and bulk fluid interface, and the retraction of the film after the film had ruptured. Unexpectedly, the thinning time for the high viscosity glycerol film around a rising biodiesel droplet was found to be much shorter than that for a low viscosity biodiesel film around a sedimenting glycerol droplet. Squeeze flow modelling showed that the film of glycerol around a biodiesel droplet was bounded by relatively inviscid biodiesel and therefore flowed with high slip at its interfaces, resulting in rapid film thinning. The biodiesel film around a glycerol droplet was bounded by highly viscous glycerol and flowed with little slip at the interfaces, resulting in slower film thinning. After rupture, film retraction was found to be much faster for biodiesel droplets than for glycerol droplets. The drag exerted by the fluid surrounding the film was found to control the retraction kinetics. The results are of particular relevance to the separation of glycerol from biodiesel and of general relevance to coalescence kinetics for immiscible drops at an interface.     

Transient aerodynamic atomization model to predict aerosol droplet size of pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI)

Pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI) produce large numbers of droplets with smaller sizes than 5 μm to treat asthma and other pulmonary diseases. The mechanism responsible for droplet generation from bulk propellant liquid is poorly understood, mainly because the small length scales and short time scales make it difficult to characterize transient spray formation events. This article describes the development and findings of a numerical atomization model to predict droplet size of pharmaceutical propellants from first principles. In this model, the velocity difference between propellant vapor and liquid phase inside spray orifice leads to formation of wave-like instabilities on the liquid surface. Two variants of the aerodynamic atomization model are presented based on assumed liquid precursor geometry: (1) cylindrical jet-shaped liquid ligaments surrounded by vapor annulus; (2) annular liquid film with vapor flow in the core. The growth of instabilities on the liquid precursor surfaces and the size of the subsequently formed droplets are predicted by numerical solutions of dispersion equations. The droplet size predictions were compared with phase doppler anemometry (PDA) data and the predictions were in good agreement with the number mean diameter D₁₀, which is representative of the respirable droplets. The temporal behavior of droplet size production was captured consistently well during the period of the first 95% of the propellant mass emission. The outcome of our modeling activities also suggests that, in addition to saturated vapor pressure of the propellant, its viscosity and surface tension are also key properties that govern pMDI droplet size.

© 2017 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Spray characteristics of a swirl atomiser in trigger sprayers using water–ethanol mixtures

Pressure swirl atomisers are widely used in both industry and daily life. It is critical to understand the spray transient behaviour for better design of these systems. This paper presents an experimental study of conical liquid sheets breakup from a swirl atomiser nozzle in trigger sprayers. Spray and atomisation characteristics were measured and analysed. Water–ethanol mixtures were used to simulate different fluids on the breakup and atomisation quality of the spray development process with a wide range of surface tension while maintaining relatively small changes in fluid viscosity and density. The spray images were taken by a high speed digital camera and post‐processed to analyse the global spray structure, spray cone angle, and breakup length. The droplet size and its distribution were measured using a laser diffraction technique. It was observed that the surface waves grow rapidly on the cone‐shaped liquid sheets and breakup into liquid ligaments and droplets during the initial stage of fluid dispensing. Then the spray transitions into the developed stage. Near the end of the dispensing process, the liquid cone collapses with poor atomisation (large droplets) due to momentum loss. The comparison between different fluids showed that the spray cone angle and liquid breakup length decreased with the increase of ethanol percentage ratio. The percentiles parameters, Sauter mean diameter (SMD) and particle size distribution were measured and compared for different locations. High surface tension fluids produce larger droplets than lower surface tension fluids, which have the same trend as the percentiles parameters and SMD. Results also show that droplet size and its distribution depend on the location of the measurement. Generally speaking, smaller droplet size is found for a location away from the nozzle axis in the vertical direction. In the horizontal direction, larger droplet sizes are found for a location closer to the nozzle exit. © 2013 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

同轴四通道喷嘴气流式雾化特性影响因素研究

提出一种新型同轴四通道喷嘴——由内到外采用气-液-气-液设置,最外环液体可以将合成气和氧气隔离,大幅降低喷嘴出口温度,可望延长气化炉中喷嘴使用寿命。为研究喷嘴雾化效果的影响因素,以水和空气为介质,利用马尔文激光粒度分析仪对同轴四通道喷嘴的气流式雾化液滴索特平均直径进行实验研究。发现对雾化效果影响程度从大到小依次为通道三、通道四、通道二和通道一;增大通道二、四液量分配比可以降低雾化粒径;增大外环液膜厚度会增大雾化粒径;通道一、三气量分配比对雾化颗粒的影响是非单调性的,雾化粒径先增大后减小。基于实验结果进行数值分析,拟合获得了同轴四通道喷嘴雾化液滴粒径关系式。     

滴状冷凝中液滴的脉动规律及分形分布模型中相邻两代液滴半径比参数

分析研究了滴状冷凝实验过程中液滴的随机运动行为以及液滴分布的分形特征,发现液滴的运动和分布与接触角及接触角滞后有关.得到了液滴分形分布模型中相邻两代液滴半径比与接触角滞后的关系式,该式计算结果与实验结果十分吻合.实验结果表明,在存在接触角滞后的表面上,液滴以脉动方式长大,导致液滴分布呈离散分代分布,并且,液滴脉动行为还受诱导因素的影响,在较强诱导因素作用的冷凝过程中,液滴分代呈明显的台阶分布;反之,在较弱的诱导条件下,分代特征不明显.液滴受接触角滞后影响而发生的脉动行为还表现为液滴偶然与随机的弹射.在液滴频繁脉动形成分代分布特征的过程中,液滴由接触角为前进角状态脉动到等体积下接触角为平衡角状态的可能性较大.     

Experimental characterization of liquid film behavior during droplets–polyethylene particle collision

Nowadays, the droplet–particle collision characteristics in the gas-phase ethylene polymerization process are still unclear. The high-speed photography and a quasi-circle imaging approach are employed to study the collision interaction characteristics between liquid droplets and polyethylene particles. The liquid film evolution is studied through variations of the film thickness on the particle north pole, the dynamic contact angle, center angle and film thickness at the maximum extension. Results have found that for n-hexane the threshold temperature of the recoil happening increases with increasing initial Weber number, but for 1-hexene it is stable. Over 70°C evaporation and splash occurs immediately. Under low Weber numbers, the water droplet stays for damping oscillations, the reference stable height of which is linearly related to temperatures. Moreover, three regimes of film thickness variation with time are identified and mathematically described, while Regime 3 characteristics are found strongly dependent on the liquid species, Weber number, and particle temperature.     

Solid-liquid separation in suspension atomization

The aim of this paper is to define the conditions controlling the fragmentation process within the atomization of a suspension. Correlations for the droplet diameter of a suspension spray generated by a twin-fluid nozzle have been derived. Two separate regimes in suspension atomization have been identified with respect to the solid particle size. The atomized droplets from suspensions containing relatively fine solid particles are suspension droplets (containing liquid and solid particles). In this case a correlation for the drop size distribution in the spray of a twin-fluid nozzle has been deduced. Droplet size measurements in the suspension spray with varying solid particle sizes showed that when the suspended solid particle size exceeds a critical value, solid particles and liquid will be more and more separated. This effect is indicated by a bimodal size distribution in the suspension spray. It is shown that complete solid-liquid separation in the suspension spray may be achieved, where the pure liquid drops are significantly smaller than the separated solid particles. The critical process conditions where the solid-liquid separation process is found will be derived. Depending on the operating conditions of the atomizer, the resulting pure liquid droplet size is equal or less than the hydraulic diameter.     

压力旋流喷嘴雾化滴径分布的模型预测和实验

利用激光片光荧光诱导技术（PLIF）测得不同液体流量下的压力旋流喷嘴雾化滴径分布,用平均粒径约束的三参数最大熵模型对雾化滴径分布进行预测。将理论预测分布与实验结果进行拟合,得到广义伽玛参数α随着液体流量变化的一般表达式。用拟合模型对粒径分布的特点和规律进行总结,结果表明：拟合模型能很好地预测粒径的数量分布,且不受小液滴的影响;随着液体流量的增加,液滴粒径分布范围逐渐变窄,峰值液滴粒径呈线性减小趋势,峰值液滴百分数呈线性增加趋势。     

转盘离心粒化中丝状成粒特性

针对转盘离心粒化工艺,以水为工质开展可视化实验。采用高速摄影仪对液膜波动、液丝断裂等粒化过程进行了捕捉,并利用MATLAB自编程序对获得的图像进行了处理。分析了离心粒化过程中液丝形成过程以及液丝断裂形成液滴的过程。研究了运行工况对液丝、液滴形成机制的影响。讨论了液丝形成对液滴形成的影响并获得了Weber数、Reynolds数对粒化效果的影响程度。结果表明,表面不稳定波是形成液丝的主要因素,且液丝在Rayleigh不稳定性的作用下断裂形成液滴。升高转速或者减小流量有利于获得均匀的小液滴。Weber数对液丝、液滴形成具有显著影响;Reynolds数仅对液丝数目有显著影响。     

Droplet characteristics in the multi-staged high speed disperser with single inlet

Droplet characteristics in the cavity zone of a multi-staged high speed disperser with single inlet were studied in this paper. The influences of both the operating and structural parameters on the mean droplet diameter, size distribution and liquid flux distribution were quantitatively analyzed. The result showed that the mean droplet diameter decreased with the increase of rotational speed and the number of rotors;whilst there is little influence on the inlet flow rate. In the experimental range, the minimum value of mean droplet diameter is 0.57 mm, 0.48 mm, 0.41 mm in the two-staged, three-staged and four-staged rotors, respectively. The Rosin–Rammler(R–R) distribution could describe the droplet size distribution appropriately, and it became uniform with the increase of rotational speed and the number of rotor, while the inlet flow rate had little effect on the droplet size distribution. The liquid flux distribution curves were always unimodal. With the increase of rotational speed, the location of maximum liquid flux ratio moved from zone 3 to zone 4 and this value decreased from 22.1% to 18.1%. Using Coefficient of Variation(CV) to indicate the uniformity of liquid flux distribution, it was found that the CV decreases from 47.5% to 22.7%when the number of rotor increased from 2 to 4.     

Kenics型静态混合器内分散相液滴破碎和聚结过程的CFD-PBM数值模拟

采用CFD-PBM耦合方法对Kenics型静态混合器内分散相油滴破碎及聚并行为进行数值模拟研究,分析了雷诺数、混合元件数、元件长径比等参数对分散相液滴粒径的影响,揭示了分散相在Kenics静态混合器内流动过程中液滴粒径的演化规律.结果表明,随雷诺数增大,分散相液滴出口粒径不断减小,并出现临界趋势;静态混合器的前几个元件...     

Coalescence dynamics of two droplets of different viscosities in T-junction microchannel with a funnel-typed expansion chamber

The coalescence behavior of two droplets with different viscosities in the funnel-typed expansion cham-ber in T-junction microchannel was investigated experimentally and compared with droplet coalescence of the same viscosity.Four types of coalescence regimes were observed:contact non-coalescence,squeeze non-coalescence,two-droplet coalescence and pinch-off coalescence.For droplet coalescence of different viscosities,the operating range of non-coalescence becomes narrowed compared to the droplet coalescence of same viscosity,and it shrinks with increasing viscosity ratio η of two droplets,indicating that the difference in the viscosity of two droplets is conducive to coalescence,especially when 1 ＜ η＜ 6.Furthermore,the influences of viscosity ratio and droplet size on the film drainage time (Tdr) and critical capillary number (Cac) were studied systematically.It was found that the film drainage time declined with the increase of average droplet size,which abided by power-law relation with the size dif-ference and viscosity ratio of the two droplets:Tdr ～ (ld)0.25±0.04 and Tdr ～ (η)-0.1±002.For droplet coales-cence of same viscosity,the relation of critical capillary number with two-phase viscosity ratio and dimensionless droplet size is Cac =0.48λ0.26l-2.64,while for droplet coalescence of different viscosities,the scaling of critical capillary number with dimensionless average droplet size,dimensionless droplet size difference and viscosity ratio of two droplets is Cac =0.11 η-0.07ls-2.23ld0.16.     

Effect of double agitation on particle size in suspension polymerization of styrene with a loop reactor

Suspension polymerization of styrene was performed in the loop reactor. In order to allow wide change to the polymer particle size, a sub impeller was included within the main impeller. The sub impeller served to increase the fluid velocity and to uniformly disperse the polymer droplets during polymerization. It was investigated how the double agitation method by the main and the sub impellers affected the transient droplet diameter distribution and the final particle size distribution. The particle size could be changed widely by the double agitation method without the decrease in degree of the uniformity of the particle size.     

Characteristics of nFOG,an aerosol-based wet thin film coating technique

An atmospheric pressure aerosol-based wet thin film coating technique called the nFOG is characterized and applied in polymer film coatings. In the nFOG, a fog of droplets is formed by two air-assist atomizers oriented toward each other inside a deposition chamber. The droplets settle gravitationally and deposit on a substrate, forming a wet film. In this study, the continuous deposition mode of the nFOG is explored. We determined the size distribution of water droplets inside the chamber in a wide side range of 0.1–100 µm and on the substrate using aerosol measurement instruments and optical microscopy, respectively. The droplet size distribution was found to be bimodal with droplets of approximately 30–50 µm contributing the most to the mass of the formed wet film. The complementary measurement methods allow us to estimate the role of different droplet deposition mechanisms. The obtained results suggest that the deposition velocity of the droplets is lower than the calculated terminal settling velocity, likely due to the flow fields inside the chamber. Furthermore, the mass flux of the droplets onto the substrate is determined to be in the order of 1 g/m³s, corresponding to a wet film growth rate of 1 µm/s. Finally, the nFOG technique is demonstrated by preparing polymer films with thicknesses in the range of approximately 0.1–20 µm.     

Parameter study of microdroplet formation by impact of millimetre-size droplets onto a liquid film

The objective of this work is to carry out an experimental investigation on the influence of different parameters such as liquid properties (viscosity and liquid–gas surface tension), impacting droplet properties (velocity v_i and diameter d_i) and the thickness of liquid film on the emission of airborne particles produced by the impact of millimetre-size droplets onto a liquid film. Our results show that in the variation range studied, the increase of v_i and d_i or the decrease in liquid film thickness produces an increase in the mean number of microdroplets emitted by impact in the size range 2–50 μm. Furthermore, it was also observed that an increase in viscosity involves a steep decrease in the mean number of microdroplets emitted. These microdroplets may be produced by the fingers pinching of the crown formed during impact. In the case of low surface tension liquid, the formation of bubbles involves high production of droplets smaller than 15 μm. The results presented here constitute a database of the micro-droplets produced to validate models of droplet impact outcomes.     

Numerical simulation of heavy fuel oil atomization using a pulsed pressure-swirl injector

It is known that increasing the injection pressure reduces the breakup length and the droplet size. Adding pulses, on the other hand, helps to atomize the liquid into finer droplets, similar to air-assisted injectors but without altering the air-to-fuel concentration.To further reduce the droplet size and breakup length, a novel injector type, called ‘‘Pulsed Pressure-Swirl"(PPS), is introduced in this work, which is a combination of pressure-swirl and ultrasonic pulsed injectors. A pressure-swirl atomizer was designed and fabricated specifically for Mazut HFO(Heavy Fuel Oil). The droplet formation process and droplet size distribution have been studied experimentally(by shadowgraphy high speed imaging) and numerically(with the open-source Volume-of-Fluid code Gerris).Changing liquid injection pressure effect on the spray angle and film thickness has been quantified.These simulations have been used to study the primary breakup process and quantify the droplet size distributions, using different injection pulse frequencies and pressures.The numerical results have revealed that the new injector concept successfully produces finer droplets and results in a decrease in the breakup length, especially when applying high pulse frequencies, with no significant changes in the spray angle.     

Relationship between droplet size and fluid flow characteristics in miniemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate

Static mixer (SM) can be applied for emulsification, but the fundamental understanding of the nature of fluid flow and mixing in static mixers, is however poor. Droplet size is a very important parameter in miniemulsion systems and affects strongly the mechanism of particle formation in polymerization reactions. In this study, static mixer was used as homogenization device for emulsification of methyl methacrylate (MMA). Re number (Re) was obtained for SM inserted tube in different flow rates. It was demonstrated the nature of fluid flow was turbulent under our experimental conditions. The relationship between droplet size—the most important variable in our study—and Weber number (We) was investigated. The results showed that the ratio of the droplet size to the pipe diameter was fit as an exponential function with an order of −0.35. The polymerization of created droplets under certain We values by SM showed that it is possible to obtain a reasonable 1 : 1 copy of droplets to the particles. All these, indicate that using relationship between We and droplet size allow one to obtain acceptable condition of droplet nucleation in miniemulsion polymerization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011