An Experimental Study on the Atomization Characteristics of the Rotary Cup Atomizer

회전컵 무화기의 미립화 특성에 관한 실험적 연구

Rotary atomizer is widely used in practical application ranging from combustion, cooling, spray drying, agriculture, chemical system. Rotary cup atomizer has some advantages such as extreme versatility and liquid atomization successfully varying widely in viscosity. In rotary atomization, the feed liquid is centrifugally accelerated to high velocity and the liquid extends over the rotating surface as a thin film before being discharged into an atmosphere. The degree of rotary atomization depends upon peripheral speed, feed rate, liquid properties and atomizer design. An important asset is that thickness and uniformity of the liquid sheet can readily be controlled by regulating the liquid flow rate and the rotational speed. LDPA(Laser Diffraction Particle Analyser) and image aquisition system are used to measure drop size distribution and spray pattern. The atomization characteristics of the rotary cup atomizer is investigated experimentally by varing the liquid feed rate, rotary cup speed and air velocity for atomization. As a results, the effect of air velocity on the atomization characteristics such as drop size and spray uniformity is considerably greater than variation of those with liquid feed rate.