Investigation on Electrostatical Breakup of Bio-Oil Droplets

Zhen-Tao Wang, Aleksandar M. Mitrašinović and John Z. Wen
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Zhen-Tao Wang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China
Aleksandar M. Mitrašinović: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada
John Z. Wen: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada

Energies, 2012, vol. 5, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: In electrostatic atomization, the input electrical energy causes breaking up of the droplet surface by utilizing a mutual repulsion of net charges accumulating on that surface. In this work a number of key parameters controlling the bio-oil droplet breakup process are identified and these correlations among the droplet size distribution, specific charges of droplets and externally applied electrical voltages are quantified. Theoretical considerations of the bag or strip breakup mechanism of biodiesel droplets experiencing electrostatic potential are compared to experimental outcomes. The theoretical analysis suggests the droplet breakup process is governed by the Rayleigh instability condition, which reveals the effects of droplets size, specific charge, surface tension force, and droplet velocities. Experiments confirm that the average droplet diameters decrease with increasing specific charges and this decreasing tendency is non-monotonic due to the motion of satellite drops in the non-uniform electrical field. The measured specific charges are found to be smaller than the theoretical values. And the energy transformation from the electrical energy to surface energy, in addition to the energy loss, Taylor instability breakup, non-excess polarization and some system errors, accounts for this discrepancy. The electrostatic force is the dominant factor controlling the mechanism of biodiesel breakup in electrostatic atomization.

Keywords: bio-oil; electrostatic breakup; critical specific charge; electrostatic atomization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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