Break-up in a gas-liquid atomizer in conjunction with an electro-spray

Multiphysics control of sprays can modify the atomization and dispersion of droplets and has many applications in fields like combustion, propulsion, agriculture, and chemical processing. We study the effect on atomization of electric charge and an external electric field in conjunction with high momentum coaxial gas. We quantify the acceleration and size distribution of the droplets with an electric field of 30kV and gas Reynolds numbers ~5x10^3-5*10^4. The electric field impacts both the atomization of the spray in the near field and the resulting droplets' velocity/acceleration in the mid-field. High-speed imaging of scattered light is analyzed to track individual droplets. Image processing was used to identify droplet tracks and derive velocity and acceleration. Statistical analysis applied to tracks shows dependency with momentum ratio and electrostatic stresses of the droplet size and number density distributions, with increasing M or E resulting in a greater number of smaller droplets, and much higher radial acceleration, with higher droplet spray dispersion.