ABSTRACT
In the process of atomization, a liquid jet or sheet is disintegrated by the kinetic energy of the liquid, by the exposure to high-velocity air or gas, or by mechanical energy applied externally through a rotating or vibrating device. Combustion of liquid fuels in diesel engines, spark-ignition engines, gas turbines, rocket engines, and industrial furnaces is dependent on effective atomization to increase the specific surface area of the fuel and thereby achieve high rates of mixing and evaporation. Several basic processes are associated with all methods of atomization, such as the hydraulics of the flow within the atomizer, which governs the turbulence properties of the emerging liquid stream. Photographic evidence suggests that for low-viscosity liquids the basic mechanisms involved are essentially the same as those observed in pressure atomization, namely the production of drops from ligaments created by perforated-sheet and/or wavy-sheet disintegration.
