Liquid attachment and momentum transfer by collisions between free-fall solids and liquid spray droplets

Understanding solid wetting by collisions between flowing solids and spray droplets is essential to optimizing the design and operation of related industrial processes. This paper presents an innovative experimental method to identify the statistical distributions of liquid attachment and collision probability of the impingement of a liquid spray onto free-fall particles. To separate liquid attachment from other contributions to the mass measurements of particles and liquids, individual impingement experiment with hydrophobic or hydrophilic particles of the same otherwise properties is respectively performed under the same conditions. In addition, a series of collection bins are distributed along the spray path to determine the statistical probability of collision properties including coating thickness. Based on these measurements, the collision-induced momentum transfer and velocity redistribution of solids and droplets can be estimated with the aid of a Lagrangian trajectory model. Consequently a general two-parameter of collision probability density function is proposed.