A computational protocol for simulation of liquid jets in crossflows with atomization

A new computational procedure for simulating liquid jets in crossflows with atomization is described and demonstrated. In our previous work, the integral form of the conservation equations has been used to derive explicit quadratic formulas for drop size during spray atomization in various geometries. This formula relates the drop size with the local kinetic energy state, i.e., the velocities, so that local velocity data from liquid-phase simulation prior to atomization can be used to determine the initial drop size. This initial drop size and appropriately sampled local gas velocities are used as the initial conditions in the dispersed-phase simulation. This procedure has been performed with good validation and comparison with experimental data at realistic Reynolds and Weber number conditions. This approach is based on the conservation principles and is generalizable so that it can easily be implemented in any spray geometries for accurate and efficient computations of spray flows.