ABSTRACT
Typical spray properties of importance include mean drop size, drop size distribution, radial and circumferential patternation, droplet number density, cone angle, and penetration. Increase in liquid pressure differential causes the liquid to be discharged from the nozzle at a higher velocity, which promotes a finer spray. In attempting to review published work on air-assist atomizer performance, a major difficulty involved is that of differentiating between air-assist and airblast atomizers, since both types of nozzle employ high-velocity air to achieve atomization and their mean geometric features are always roughly the same. Air-assist nozzles require less air than airblast nozzles, which makes them especially attractive for use in atomizing systems that are required to operate with as little mass flow of air as possible. The atomization performance of prefilming nozzles is generally superior to that of plain-jet nozzles, but they are fully effective only when both sides of the liquid sheet are exposed to the air.
