Influence of liquid properties on ultrasonic atomization

Ultrasonic atomization is very convenient because it can generate droplets with diameters of a few microns andwith very narrow size distribution. Besides, opposite to twin fluid nozzles, in ultrasonic atomization, dropletgeneration and transport are decoupled processes. Droplets are ejected from the liquid surface with very lowvelocities, so driving them is relatively simple. Although this atomization method is now common in some specificapplications, for example in household humidifiers, there are still some details about the physics of this processthat are not completely understood. Up to date, most of the published results have been limited to experimentswith water. However, it has been demonstrated that atomization rates quickly decrease as liquid viscosityincreases. This work analyzes the characteristics of ultrasonic atomization of some alternative fluids to determineif there is any influence of other physical properties such as surface tension or vapor pressure. Experiments areperformed using a commercial piezoceramic disk with a resonance frequency of 1.65 MHz. The disk is excitedwith a sinusoidal signal with voltage amplitudes that go up to 60 V. Sprays are visually characterized analyzinginstantaneous images and high speed video sequences. Besides atomization rates are calculated by measuringthe weight loss in a fixed time.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4588