Experimental study on turbulent mixing of spray droplets in crossflow

Centrifugal spray injected at various angles in gas crossflow has been studied experimentally using PIV visualization system and image-processing techniques. Experiments were carried out inside a rectangular duct (95 mm × 95 mm in cross-section) at ambient temperature and pressure, with different gas Reynolds numbers (vary from 12,900 to 45,000) and three injection angles (60°, 90° and 120°). The spray angle of the centrifugal nozzle is 80°, with D32 of 80 μm. The instantaneous images of droplets distribution and the values of the line-averaged D32 at different positions on the cross-sections along the flow field for each condition were obtained, and their flow field configurations were achieved. Quantitative assessments of mixing degree between two phases for different injection angles were determined using a spatial unmixedness parameter. It is found that the addition of droplets into the gas crossflow enhanced the turbulence intensity of the gas crossflow and caused different-scale vortices. The flow field structure, to a great extent, is dependent on the injection angle. The entrainment and centrifugal force of large vortex lead to uneven droplet distribution and moreover influence the mixing of droplets and gas crossflow. A better mixing result can be obtained with the injection angle of nozzles of 60°.