Abstract
In this study, we evaluated the fundamental physical behavior during droplet formation and flow from a rotary bell spray in the absence of an electrostatic field. The impact of a wide range of operating parameters of the rotary bell sprayer, such as flow rates, rotational speeds, and spatial positioning, on droplet sizes and size distributions using a three-dimensional (3-D) mapping was studied. The results showed that increasing the rotational speed caused the Sauter mean diameter of the droplets to decrease while increasing flow rate increased the droplet sizes. The rotational speed effect, however, was dominant compared to the effect of flow rate. An increase in droplet size radially away from the cup was noted in the vicinity of the cup, nevertheless, as the lateral distances from the cup and rotational speed were increased, the droplet sizes within the flow field became more uniform. This result is of importance for painting industries, which are looking for optimal target distances for uniform painting appearance. Furthermore, the theoretical formulation was validated with experimental data, which provides a wider range of applicability in terms of environment and parameters that could be tested. This work also provides an abundance of measurements, which can serve as a database for the validation of future droplet disintegration simulations.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-5-2019
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4030165
Funding Information
This research was funded internally by the University of Kentucky, Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD).
Repository Citation
Darwish Ahmad, Adnan; Singh, Binit B.; Doerre, Mark; Abubaker, Ahmad M.; Arabghahestani, Masoud; Salaimeh, Ahmad A.; and Akafuah, Nelson K., "Spatial Positioning and Operating Parameters of a Rotary Bell Sprayer: 3D Mapping of Droplet Size Distributions" (2019). Institute of Research for Technology Development Faculty Publications. 3.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ir4td_facpub/3
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Fluids, v. 4, issue 3, p. 1-19.
© 2019 by the authors.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Binit B. Singh won the University of Kentucky's Oswald Research and Creativity Competition (first place in the Physical and Engineering Sciences category) with his participation in this research in 2019.