The effect of shear and extensional viscosities on atomization of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in ultrasonic inhaler

The paper contains results of the experimental study on atomization process of aqueous solutions of glycerol and aqueous solutions of glycerol–polyacrylamide (Rokrysol WF1) in an ultrasonic inhaler. In experiments the different concentration aqueous solutions of glycerol and glycerol–polyacrylamide have been tested. The results have been obtained by the use of laser diffraction technique. The differences between characteristics of ultrasonic atomization for test liquids have been observed. The analysis of drop size histograms shows that the different sizes of drops have been formed during atomization process. The present study confirmed the previous reports which suggested that the drops size changes with the increase in viscosity of solution changes in spray characteristics were also observed. It has been shown that the shear and extensional viscosities affect the process of atomization.

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