An investigation of methanol and methanol blended sprays using laser scattering images

Abstract

The characteristics of methanol and methanol blended (M85) sprays were investigated under atmospheric conditions at various temperatures, ranging from non-vaporizing to vaporizing ambient conditions (298 -353 K) . From laser scattering images, the macroscopic characteristics of the spray, such as the spray tip penetration and the spray angle, were determined. Entropy concept was introduced to represent homogeneity and PIV analysis was adopted to determine the fluid dynamic information at each location of the spray. The correlation between entropy and vorticity strength enabled us to find their relations. The effect of ambient composition, mainly of viscous effect as affected by CO2 levels, was investigated using PIV and entropy analysis. Spray width and entropy value were found to tend to decrease at increased CO 2 levels.