Study on imaging method for measuring droplet size in large sprays

Information of droplet size and size distribution lays the basis for investigations of atomization mechanisms and performance optimization, However, the laser diffraction and phase Doppler particle analyzers have difficulty in accurately characterizing sprays with a wide range of droplet sizes and very large droplets, especially ira large number of droplets are aspherical. A method to measure size in such large- droplet sprays based on digital imaging with backward illumination was developed, including an image acquisition system and image process programs. Calibration of the measurement system was performed using a dot calibration target with different dot sizes. An experimental setup was designed and established to characterize spray nozzles under different operation loads, as well as different nozzle arrangements. Results show that the droplet size of sprays ranges from dozens of microns to several millimeters. The superiority of wide load range for such nozzles was indicated by the size-measurement results under half-load to full-load operations. The present study revealed that the image processing technique can be effectively implemented for in-line size measurements of sprays with a wide distribution of droplet size and aspherical droplets, which would be difficult to characterize bv other methods.

Effects of atomization parameters of dust removal nozzles on the de-dusting results for different dust sources

In order to obtain appropriate spray pressure and enhance the spraying and dust removal efficiency, various factors including the dust characteristics, nozzle spraying angle, effective spraying range, water consumption and droplet size are taken into account. The dust characteristics from different mines and atomization parameters of different pressure nozzles were measured. It was found that the internal pressure of coal cutters and roadheaders should be kept at 2 MPa, which could ensure large droplet size, large spraying angle and low water consumption and hence realizing a large-area covering and capture for large particle dusts. However, the external spray pressure should be kept at 4 MPa for smaller droplet size and longer effective spraying range, leading to effective dust removal in the operator zone. The spray pressure of support moving, drawing opening, and stage loader on a fully mechanized caving face and stage loader on a fully mechanized driving face should be kept at 8 MPa, under which the nozzles have long effective spraying range, high water flow and small droplet size for the rapid capture of instantaneous, high-concentration and small size dust groups. From the applications on the caving and driving faces in the coal mines, it is indicated that the optimization of spray pressure in different spraying positions could effectively enhance dust removal efficiency. Selecting appropriate nozzles according to the dust characteristics at different positions is also favorable for dust removal efficiency. With the selected nozzles under optimal pressures, the removal rates of both total dust and respirable dust could reach over70%, showing a significant de-dusting effect.

Analysis of pneumatic atomizer spray profiles

Our objective is to analyze the atomization processes of a pneumatic atomizer by measuring the size and velocity distributions of droplets in a liquid paint spray. The droplet size and velocity distributions have been determined at different axial positions in the spray; a mathematical description of how these quan- tities vary throughout the spray is then proposed. Additionally, the relative number density of droplets and the relative local mass flux are estimated.