Optical and Numerical Analysis of Droplet Breakup

The conversion and combustion of liquid alternative reduction agents to injected into an ironmaking blast furnace depends strongly on the achieved droplet size distribution of the spray. Since direct on site investigation of the spray in the blast furnace raceway is not feasible, a lab scale cold model has been constructed. The spray formation has been analyzed using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and High Speed Imaging. Furthermore Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been carried out and compared to the experimental findings to help understanding the atomization process and to predict the droplet size distributions.