Experimental and computational characterisation of atomised spray flow around a circular cylinder

This study determines the intrusiveness of endoscopic tools within multiphase flows. A liquid-air blast atomiser continuously discharges within a test section of air at atmospheric pressure, with and without a circular cylinder placed 25 diameters (D = 10 mm) downstream of the nozzle. Data was collected using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), drop sizing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Numerical predictions are compared against the PIV results for wake flow characterisation. Using a non-intrusive droplet sizing technique it has been observed that the average droplet diameter increases when the circular cylinder is introduced and so does the frequency of occurrence of these large particles. Smaller particles are re-circulated, whereas the larger drops continued in the general direction of the spray cone.