(37b) Insights into Particle-Droplet Collisions

Collisions between particles and droplets are important to the performance of spray dryers and many other spray processes. The dynamics and outcome of these collisions depends on the particle and droplet properties and their initial velocities. The work presented here focuses on collisions where the particle is smaller than the droplet, as s is common in spray dryers. It experimentally explores the influence of the particle and droplet properties on the dynamics of the collision and their influence on the collision outcome. It uses imaging and image analysis to investigate free binary collisions where droplet rotation is observed to be important and highlights the significant impact of contact angle and density on the collisions. Thus providing useful insights and empirical models that have the potential to be used in the simulation of spray processes.