Experimental and computational study of the two-fluid nozzle spreading characteristics.

• Spreading chticsaracteris of the two fluid spray nozzle were investigated • The viscosities of the liquids were determined experimentally • Volume of Fluid computational model was used for computational analysis • Experiments for 5 liquids at 3 temperatures and 3 nozzle diameters were performed • The results of numerical simulation are compared with appropriate experimental data Spray nozzles are widely used in processing industry for spreading evenly large amount of fluids. The expansion of fluid depends on the nozzle type, the parameters of the nozzle and the characteristics of the working fluids. The experiments were performed for five fluid types used in food/pharma/animal feed application (glycerol, soybean oil, molasses, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, tara gum), three diameters of the nozzle (1 mm, 3 mm, 5 mm) and three fluid temperatures (40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C). An experimentally validated numerical model was developed, based on laminar two-phase flow, investigating different liquids, assuming the ideal gas flow, applying the finite volume method and volume of the fluid model with interface tracking. The effects of liquid parameters, nozzle diameter and liquid temperature on the characteristics of the jet were also analysed by artificial neural network model. The nozzle diameter strongly influenced the spreading characteristics of the jet, while the temperature affected the liquid viscosity. The increase of the temperature also led to the augment of the spreading angle of the fluid passing from the nozzle and also the enhancement of the spaying liquid expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]