Evaporation of polydispersed droplets in a highly turbulent channel flow

A model experiment for the study of evaporating turbulent two-phase flows is presented here. The study focuses on a situation where pre-atomized and dispersed droplets vaporize and mix in a heated turbulent flow. The test bench consists in a channel flow with characteristics of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence where fluctuations levels reach very high values (25% in the established zone). An ultrasonic atomizer allows the injection of a mist of small droplets of acetone in the carrier flow. The large range diameters ensure that every kind of droplet behavior with regards to turbulence is possible. Instantaneous concentration fields of the vaporized phase are extracted from fluorescent images (PLIF) of the two phase flow. The evolution of the mixing of the acetone vapor is analyzed for two different liquid mass loadings. Despite the high turbulence levels, concentration fluctuations remain significant, indicating that air and acetone vapor are not fully mixed far from the injector.