Investigation on the mass entrainment of an acoustically controlled elliptic jet

The mass entrainment of the elliptic jet under acoustic excitations with fundamental and subharmonic frequency were investigated experimentally in this paper. Results show that the azimuthal deformation increases the interfacial area and engulfs more fluid from surrounding into the free shear layer, it implies the azimuthal deformation plays an important role in the mass transfer of an elliptic jet. Results also reveal that most of the entrainment occurs around the minor-axis plane, but the mass can be entrained significantly around the major-axis plane when the elliptic jet under the subharmonic frequency excitation, i.e., f_e (f₀ /2, f₀ /2). It proposes that the subharmonic frequency excitation is effective to increase the mass entrainment of the elliptic jet.     

Direct measurement of entrainment during nanoparticle synthesis in spray flames

Using phase Doppler anemometry the scale of turbulence and the spray dilution by air entrainment are investigated during nanoparticle synthesis by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP). Ethanol and a solution of 0.5 M zirconium propoxide in ethanol are dispersed and combusted using an external-mixing, gas-assisted atomizer resulting in product ZrO₂ particles of about 11 nm in diameter as determined by nitrogen adsorption at a production rate of 100 g/h. Solution droplet size distributions of the solid cone spray are measured and related to standard correlations of spray atomization. Air entrainment and the radial spread of the expanding jet are determined from the gas velocities in horizontal planes across the spray cone at different heights above the nozzle. The isotropy of the turbulence is investigated using measured axial and radial velocity fluctuations. The turbulent flow is characterized by the integral time and Kolmogorov scales as well as the average shear rates acting on droplets and particles. The flow structure of these spray flames is of major importance as it determines product particle size, polydispersity, morphology, and crystallinity.     

Cooling characteristics of an impinging spray jet which forms an ellipsoidal liquid film

The cooling characteristics of an impinging spray jet which forms an ellipsoidal liquid film were experimentally investigated in order to estimate the cooling performance of a rotating roll in a hot mill system. The following four conclusions were reached in the study. (1) In the case of a single spray jet, the local heat transfer coefficient at the center position depends on the forced convective heat transfer by the impinging jet. However, the average heat transfer coefficient is proportional to the flow rate density of the cooling water, and it does not depend on the distance between the nozzle and heated surface. (2) In the case of a double spray jet, liquid film interference occurs. The local heat transfer coefficient at the center position is greater, and the cooling performance increases with the increasing flow rate density of the cooling water. (3) The cooling performance of a multispray jet is proportional to the flow rate density of the cooling water. It does not depend on the nozzle construction, distance, or specifications. Also, there is no relation to the liquid film interference. (4) When the optimum specifications of the spray nozzle are used, thermal analysis of a rotating roll shows that the temperature at a depth of 1.3 mm from the surface is below 130 °C. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 29(4): 280–299, 2000     

Direct numerical simulations of a planar jet laden with evaporating droplets

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) study is conducted on the various aspects of phase interactions in a planar turbulent gas-jet laden with non-evaporative and evaporative liquid droplets. A compressible computational model utilizing a finite difference scheme for the carrier gas and a Lagrangian solver for the droplet phase is used to conduct the numerical experiments. The effects of droplet time constant, mass-loading and mass/momentum/energy coupling between phases on droplet and gas-jet fields are investigated. Significant changes in velocity, temperature, density and turbulence production on account of the coupling between the liquid and gas phases are observed in non-isothermal jets with evaporating droplets. Most of these changes are attributed to the density stratification in the carrier gas that is caused by droplet momentum and heat transfer.     

A re-examination of entrainment constant and an explicit model for flame heights of rectangular jet fires

Flame heights of buoyant turbulent jet fires produced by rectangular nozzles whose aspect ratio varied from 1:1 to 1:71 are investigated experimentally in this work. The change of the entrainment constant parameter C₁ with aspect ratio is discussed based on the comprehensive data obtained. It is found the value of C₁ does not need to be transformed from 0.179 to 0.444 with an increase in aspect ratio from axisymmetric one to linear one as proposed previously in the classic correlation due to limited data, a change which might be misleading. It is revealed to in fact change little with rectangular fire source aspect ratio and can be constantly taken as 0.185. A new explicit model to predict flame heights for given heat release rates of rectangular jet fires is then proposed, which is shown to be in good agreement with the measured values for different source aspect ratios.     

Stability of an evaporating thin polymer film

The paper demonstrates existence of a purely thermal instability mechanism in a thin evaporating film that can be responsible for formation of mesoscopic patterns in thin polymer films. The instability is caused by the increasing evaporation with the film thinning due to higher heat flux to the film surface.     

Asymmetric entrainment effect on the local surface temperature of a flat plate heated by an obliquely impinging two-dimensional jet

The flow and temperature fields caused by a two-dimensional heating air jet obliquely impinging on a flat plate are experimentally characterized. Whilst the jet flow is discharged at Re_Dh = 8.2 × 10³ based on the hydraulic diameter of the orifice, D_h, and the jet exit-to-plate spacing (separation distance) is fixed at 8D_h, the impingement angle (inclination) is systematically decreased from 90° (normal impinging) to 30° (oblique impinging). A separate experiment is carried out for a two-dimensional cooling jet obliquely impinging on a heated plate (constant heat flux). The results demonstrate that the response of local surface temperature to plate inclination behaves in a completely different manner. For impinging jet cooling, the inclination (from normal impinging position) reduces the local effective temperature values at corresponding points about actual stagnation point, inclusive of it. For impinging jet heating, the inclination causes, conversely, an increase in local surface temperature including the stagnation point temperature. However, the shifting of the actual stagnation point towards the uphill side of the plate is consistently observed for both hot and cold jet cases. This newly found feature for an obliquely impinging jet is attributed to the combined effects of asymmetric entrainment and momentum redistribution (i.e., thickening/thinning of hydraulic boundary layers on each side of the plate with respect to the actual stagnation point).     

Numerical investigation of an evaporating meniscus in a channel

A detailed numerical model is developed that describes heat and mass transfer from a meniscus to open air. The model accounts for the effects of evaporation at the interface, vapor transport through air, thermocapillary convection, and natural convection in air. Evaporation at the interface is modeled using kinetic theory, while vapor transport in air is computed by solving the complete species transport equation. Since the vapor pressure at the liquid–gas interface depends on both evaporation and the vapor transport in air, the equations are solved in an iterative manner. Evaporation is strongest at the triple line due to the highest local vapor diffusion gradient in this region. This differential evaporation, coupled with the low thermal resistance near the triple line, results in a temperature gradient along the interface that creates thermocapillary convection. The numerical results obtained show satisfactory agreement with experimental data for the evaporation rate and the temperature profile. Additionally, results from a simplified model neglecting thermocapillary convection are compared with the full solution, thus delineating the importance of thermocapillary convection-induced mixing in the energy transfer process. The present generalized model may easily be extended to other geometries and hence may be used in the design of two-phase cooling devices.     

Characteristics of an evaporating thin film in a microchannel

An evaporating meniscus in a microchannel is investigated through an augmented Young–Laplace model and the kinetic theory-based expression for mass transport across a liquid–vapor interface. The complete expression for mass transport is employed without any approximations and boundary conditions for the film profile are developed. The thin film and the intrinsic-meniscus regions are distinguished based on the disjoining pressure variation along the meniscus. While heat transfer in the thin-film region is found to be relatively insensitive to channels larger than a few micrometers in radius, that in the intrinsic meniscus is quite sensitive to channel size. The role of evaporation suppression due to capillary pressure in both regions is discussed. Compared to the relatively small contribution to overall heat transfer from the thin-film region, the micro-region (defined here as extending from the non-evaporating region to a location where the film is 1 μm thick) is found to account for more than 50% of the total heat transfer.     

Soot formation, spray characteristics, and structure of jet spray flames under high pressure

Coaxial jet spray flames of kerosene and oxygen are experimentally studied over a pressure range of 0.1–1.0 MPa to determine the relationship between flame structure, droplet behavior, and soot formation region, which varies with changes in pressure. The direct images and chemiluminescence spectra show that the spray flames have three regions: the blue flame region, which has a peak of CH* and C₂* radical chemiluminescence, luminous flame region caused by soot emission, and blue emission region caused by CO₂ emission. With increase in ambient pressure, the flame length shortens drastically, the luminous flame region envelopes the blue flame region, and the blue emission becomes more intense. The result of phase-Doppler anemometry shows that a large number of small droplets evaporate and disappear near the burner, and the evaporation of large droplets also occurs rapidly under high pressure. The result of temperature measurements shows that high-temperature regions appear near the burner. The flame temperature drastically decreases along the central axis, and a minimum temperature point appears. This point moves upstream with increase in ambient pressure because evaporation of the droplets occurs further upstream. A laser-induced incandescence measurement shows that the soot volume fraction does not monotonously increase or decrease with increase in ambient pressure. The soot volume fraction at the central axis becomes low upstream and high downstream. As pressure increases, the vertical position at which the peak of soot volume fraction appears at the central axis moves upstream.     

An experimental evaluation of an entrainment flame-propagation model

Experimental burning-velocity and propagation-velocity data are presented for laminar and turbulent flames ignited in a constant-volume vessel. Burning velocities were obtained using a double-kernel technique whereby the expansion component of the propagation velocity is canceled by propagating two flames toward one another. Propagation velocities were obtained from freely propagating flames. The turbulent flow field was the same in both experiments. High-speed schlieren photography was used to determine flame velocities.The burnig-velocity data are used as one input parameter to a two-parameter entrainment flame-propagation model published in the literature. The model is then fit to the flame-radius and propagation-velocity data to determine the other parameter, a characteristic reaction time. It is shown than the model underestimates experimentally observed flame acceleration unless burning velocity is reduced at small flame radii with an empirical term which is a function of flame radius and thickness. With the empirical term the entrainment model does a reasonable job of predicting flame-propagation rates for the flames examined.     

Fringe probing of an evaporating microdroplet on a hot surface

The phenomenon of droplets impacting and evaporating on a hot surface is of interest in many areas of engineering. Quantitative measurement of these processes provides great help to reveal the physics behind. A novel technique was developed to quantitatively measure the volume evolution and contact diameter of an evaporating microdroplet on a hot surface utilizing interference fringe scattering method. In this method, fine fringes produced by the interference of two coherent laser beams was scattered by the droplet and projected onto a screen. The profile and volume of the droplet can be derived from the spatial fringe spacing on the screen. The number of total fringes measurable on the screen was used to determine the instantaneous contact diameter of the microdroplet. Validation experiments demonstrated that the measurement errors are less than ±5% and ±1% for microdroplet volume and contact diameter, respectively. By using this method, the dynamic of droplet impingement, evaporation and boiling using ethanol, pure water and water solution of a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) with impact velocity of 7.5 m/s and diameters ranged from 0.19 to 0.46 mm were investigated.     

Gas jet heat release inside a cylindrical cavity

It is known that inside a cylindrical cavity placed at the way of an underexpanded jet, pressure oscillations accompanied by heat release can be excited. In spite of many works conducted in the past, some questions still remain about the heating mechanism, mainly due to the experimental difficulties associated with the flow structure of an underexpanded jet. The experimental results presented in this paper show that a drastic heating takes place when a cavity, filled by jet, exhibits cyclical oscillations of pressure, where the minimum cavity pressure corresponds to the level of ambient pressure outside the cavity.     

Effects of turbulence and carrier fluid on simple, turbulent spray jet flames

This paper presents simultaneous LIF images of OH and the two-phase acetone fuel concentration as well as detailed single-point phase-Doppler measurements of velocity and droplet flux in three turbulent spray flames of acetone. This work forms part of a larger program to study spray jets and flames in a simple, well-defined geometry, aimed at providing a platform for developing and validating predictive tools for such flows. Spray flames that use nitrogen or air as droplet carrier are investigated and issues of flow field, droplet dispersion, size distribution, and evaporation are addressed. The joint OH/acetone concentration images reveal a substantial similarity to premixed flame behavior when the carrier stream is air. When the carrier is nitrogen, the reaction zone has a diffusion flame structure. There is no indication of individual droplet burning. The results show that evaporation occurs close to the jet centerline rather than in the outer shear layer. Turbulence does not have a significant impact on the evaporation rates. A small fraction of the droplets escapes the reaction zone unburned along the centerline and persists far downstream of the flame tip. The proportion of this droplet residue increases with shorter residence times as observed for the higher velocity flame.     

Numerical study of the impact on high-pressure and evaporating spray behavior of nozzle cavitation at typical diesel engine conditions

In order to more accurately reproduce diesel sprays a strategy including measurement of nozzle inlet pressure at the realistic diesel injection condition, modeling of nozzle cavitating flow and detailed coupling of nozzle exit flow and spray was presented, moreover, the validity of this strategy was firstly verified against the quantitative spray data obtained by planar laser induced exciplex fluorescence (PLIEF) technique. Based on the above strategy, the effect of cavitation phenomenon on spray formation at the typical diesel engine condition was further evaluated. The final numerical results mainly clarified that the contribution of cavitation phenomena to primary breakup is quite appreciable, and subsequently the evolution of the high-pressure and evaporating diesel spray structure greatly changes as cavitation occurs inside fuel injection nozzles. Moreover, evaluating the effects of cavitation phenomena on realistic diesel spray cannot be only confined to primary breakup or near-nozzle field.     

Temperature measurements near the contact line of an evaporating meniscus V-groove

Evaporation from a meniscus of heptane liquid in a V-groove geometry is experimentally investigated. A thin layer of titanium coated on the backside of the fused quartz groove is electrically heated to provide a constant heat flux. The temperature profile in the evaporating thin film region of the extended meniscus is measured using high-resolution infrared thermography and the temperature suppression in this region is obtained as a function of liquid feeding rate. The meniscus shape is captured using a goniometer. A temperature suppression of ～0.2 K in the 150 μm region surrounding the contact line on each side indicates the efficacy of evaporation in the extended meniscus. At a given axial location, the fraction of total meniscus heat transfer which takes place in a 50 μm sub-region measured from the contact line is estimated by an approximate heat balance analysis to be ～45% for the range of liquid feeding rates explored.     

Prediction of the entrainment of ambient air into a turbulent argon plasma jet using a turbulence-enhanced combined-diffusion-coefficient method

The entrainment of the ambient air into a turbulent argon plasma jet is studied numerically using a turbulence-enhanced combined-diffusion-coefficient method. Namely, the Navier-Stokes equations and two-equation turbulence model coupled with the turbulence-enhanced combined-diffusion-coefficient approach are employed to predict the turbulent plasma jet characteristics including the evolution of air mole fraction along the plasma jet in air surroundings. Although complicated gas species always exist in the plasma jet due to rather high gas temperatures being involved, it is shown that the entrainment of ambient air into the turbulent argon plasma jet can still be treated simply by the combined turbulent and molecular diffusion between only two different gases (argon and air). Good agreement between the predicted results with corresponding experimental data reported by Fincke et al. [Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 46 (22) (2003) 4201] demonstrates the applicability of the present modeling approach.