ENERGY BUDGET IN ATOMIZATION

An equation of mechanical energy balance in a liquid jet atomizing in an ambient gas is derived. The time rate of change of kinetic energy of the fluctuating disturbance in a given volume of the jet is shown to be equal to the sum of four types of works done per unit time on the jet and the energy dissipation rate through the agent of viscosity. The four types of works involved are the work by the surface tension, the work by the pressure fluctuation in the ambient gas, the work done by the fluctuating pressure in the jet, and the work by the viscous stress. Numerical results obtained for a wide range of relevant parameters are used to show that the surface tension work is negative in jet atomization. This is contrary to the situation in the breakup of an ink jet for which the surface tension work is positive, and thus the breakup is due to capillary pinching. It is shown that the work by fluctuating gas pressure is responsible for the atomization process, since the pressure work term is the dominant positive term in the energy budget of the jet atomization. © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc.