Droplet Velocity Measurement Of Acetone-Water Spray Using Fluorescence-Based Particle Image Velocimetry
Anbarasan Sekar (1), Yedhu Krishna (2), Aravind Vaidyanathan (1)
1. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2. Specrule Scientific Pvt Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram, India
DOI:
A method for measuring the velocity of liquid droplets emanating from an effervescent injector into ambient air was experimented using a mixture of acetone and water. Conventional methods such as Laser Doppler Velocimetry and Particle Image Velocimetry, which utilise Mie-scattering, have limitations due to multiple scattering and strong surface reflections, respectively. In the current study, we demonstrate fluorescence-based particle image velocimetry, which can overcome the abovementioned difficulty. Unlike previous similar studies that used fluorescent dyes, the inherent fluorescence of acetone is utilised in our strategy. The acetone and water were mixed in different volume ratios, and the effervescent jet was produced with air. The Gas-to-Liquid ratio of 8% was considered in this study. The spray droplets were excited using the fourth harmonic of the Nd-YAG laser. Two acetone Planar Laser laser-induced fluorescence images are acquired with a CCD camera and with a 20 µs time difference. The velocity vectors are obtained based on the cross-correlation between the two images. The results showed that absorption greatly influences the estimated velocity distribution. At a low acetone concentration, the velocity distribution became uniform around the jet centre line. A high-intensity laser could improve the velocity estimate in the core of the aerated jet. The proposed method can be applied directly to ambient and pressurised conditions where wall scattering is dominant. The directional independence of the fluorescence is also an advantage in scenarios where the imaging angle is a constraint.