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Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, Vol.85, No.1, 93-104, 1999
A note on the effect of polymer rigidity and concentration on spray atomisation
The atomisation of flexible, semi-rigid, and rigid polymer solutions through a single swirl-type spray nozzle is experimentally examined. The cone angle for the spray is correlated with the type of polymer and the concentration. We observe an initial increase, compared to that of water, in the cone angle as the concentration increases for all solutions. As the concentration is increased further the measured cone angle decreases until the cone collapses and the spray nozzle produces a single jet. The flexible polyacrylamide solutions collapsed at the lowest polymer concentration followed by the rigid Xanthan gum and then the semi-rigid carboxymethyl cellulose. The behaviour of spray cone angle may be explained by differences in the qualitative behaviour of the extensional viscosity for the different types of polymer and different polymer concentrations.
Keywords:MOLECULAR-WEIGHT;FLUIDS