Abstract
Previous work showed that particle behaviors in ultrasonic atomization pyrolysis (UAP) reactor have a great influence on the transport and collection of particles. In this study, the effects of droplet behaviors (i.e. droplet collision and breakage) and solvent evaporation on the droplet size, flow field and collection efficiency during the preparation of ZnO particles by UAP were investigated. The collision, breakage and solvent evaporation conditions which affect the droplet size distribution and flow pattern were considered in CFD simulation based on Eulerian-Lagrangian method. The results showed that droplet collision and breakage would increase the droplet size, broaden the droplet size distribution and hinder the transport of droplets. Solvent evaporation obviously changed the flow pattern of droplets. In addition, both droplet behaviors and solvent evaporation reduced the collection efficiency. This study could provide detail information for better understanding the effect of droplet behaviors and solvent evaporation on the particle production process via UAP reactor.