Experimental Investigation on the Breakup Characteristics of Various Fuels in air Cross-flow Condition

In this study, the breakup characteristics of mono disperse droplets were studied with various fuels, ethanol, diesel fuel, biodiesel fuel extracted from soybean oil, and pure water. In order to investigate the droplet behavior in air cross-flow conditions, the experimental equipment was composed of a droplet generator with an air nozzle, and a high-magnification photo detecting system. Droplets produced by the droplet generator were injected into the air stream flowing normal to a direction of liquid drop jet. Digital images of the droplet behavior in air flow field were recorded by controlling the air flow rate. From the inspections, droplet breakup mechanism is primarily classified into the two kinds of stage, first breakup stage and second breakup stage. At the first breakup stage, droplet deformation rate seems to be affected by the force induced by the surface tension and the viscosity. On the other hand, at the second breakup stage, droplet is broken up mainly induced by the surface tension, so the breakup transition can be divided by the regular Weber number.