Ligament breakup and droplet formation during impingment atomization of non-Newtonian liquids*

Atomization of bulk fluids and its characteristics is of importance in various applications like combustion of liquid fuels, agricultural sprays and paint industries. The present study involves the characterization of ligaments formed during the impinging jets atomization of aqueous polymer solutions and aqueous polymer gels. Addition of polymers impart elastic properties to the liquid and their atomization process is affected depending on the mass concentration of the polymer present in the solution or gel. The ligaments originating from the liquid sheet formed during the collision of liquid jets disintegrate into smaller fragments or droplets near the periphery of the liquid sheet. The size and distribution of such droplets are found to be varying at different spatial locations. We identify the factors affecting the droplet sizes of such polymer liquids.