Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.30, No.11, 1546-1563, 2007
Prediction of droplet velocities and rain out in horizontal isothermal free jet flows of air and viscous liquid in stagnant ambient air
Two-dimensional phase Doppler anemometer measurements of droplet size and velocity conducted under several nozzle conditions and a systematic variation of the air mass flow quality and liquid phase viscosity show that the air entrainment process is enhanced when keeping all test conditions constant except for increasing the Newtonian liquid viscosity above of that of water. A two-zone entrainment model based on a variable two-phase entrainment coefficient is proposed with the normalized axial distance allowing for a change in the jet angle. Thus the jet perimeter is lower and the breakup length is longer in the case of air/relatively higher viscosity liquid phase. It provides the most accurate reproduction of the experimental droplet velocity in comparison with that of other models in the literature and hence, is recommended for the prediction of the droplet velocity in the case of two-phase air/liquid phase free jet flow in Stagnant ambient air. A model for predicting the droplet rain out, considering the droplet trajectories in the free jet flow, allows also for an adequate reproduction of the experimental data.