Premium
Effect of viscosity on liquid curtain stability
Author(s) -
Mohammad Karim Alireza,
Suszynski Wieslaw J.,
Francis Lorraine F.,
Carvalho Marcio S.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.16015
Subject(s) - breakup , viscosity , mechanics , enhanced data rates for gsm evolution , flow (mathematics) , viscous liquid , instability , materials science , chemistry , physics , engineering , composite material , telecommunications
The effect of viscosity on liquid curtain stability was explored by high‐speed visualization. Measurements of the velocity within the curtain revealed the presence of a viscous boundary layer along the edge guides. The critical condition at the onset of curtain breakup was determined by identifying the flow rate below which the curtain broke for two different edge guide geometries: parallel and convergent. Curtain breakup was initiated by the expansion of a hole within the curtain. For low viscosity liquid, the measured hole retraction speed is independent of the viscosity and equal to the Taylor‐Culick speed. For high viscosity liquids, the retraction speed is lower than the Taylor‐Culick speed due to viscous forces that resist the flow. The results also show the effect of liquid viscosity on the curtain stability is a strong function of the edge guide design. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 1448–1457, 2018