An experimental methodology to quantify the spray cooling event at intermittent spray impact

The present paper describes an experimental methodology devised to study spray cooling with multiple-intermittent sprays as those found in fuel injection systems of spark-ignition and diesel engines, or in dermatologic surgery applications. The spray characteristics and the surface thermal behaviour are measured by combining a two-component phase-Doppler anemometer with fast response surface thermocouples. The hardware allows simultaneous acquisition of Doppler and thermocouple signals which are processed in Matlab to estimate the time-varying heat flux and fluid-dynamic characteristics of the spray during impact. The time resolution of the acquisition system is limited by the data rate of validation of the phase-Doppler anemometer, but it has been shown to be accurate for the characterization of spray-cooling processes with short spurt durations for which the transient period of spray injection plays an important role. The measurements are processed in terms of the instantaneous heat fluxes, from which phase-average values of the boiling curves are obtained. Two of the characteristic parameters used in the thermal analysis of stationary spray cooling events, the critical heat flux (CHF) and Leidenfrost phenomenon, are then inferred in terms of operating conditions of the multiple-intermittent injections, such as the frequency, duration and pressure of injection.An integral method is suggested to describe the overall process of heat transfer, which accounts for the fluid-dynamic heterogeneities induced by multiple and successive droplet interactions within the area of spray impact. The method considers overall boiling curves dependant on the injection conditions and provides an empirical tool to characterize the heat transfer processes on the impact of multiple-intermittent sprays. The methodology is tested in a preliminary study of the effect of injection conditions on the heat removed by a fuel spray striking the back surface of the intake valve as in spark-ignition internal combustion engines with port-fuel injection. Although the temperature at which the CHF occurs varies within the target surface, analysis shows that it remains constant when the heat flux is considered as a quantity integrated over the impacted area. For very short pulse durations (5 ms), the cooling efficiency is found to increase for low frequencies of injection and at the critical heat flux condition.