Аңдатпа
The generation of aerosols with narrow droplet-size distributions remains a key challenge in liquid atomization technologies used in agricultural, chemical-processing, and environmental applications. This study presents an experimental investigation of spray characteristics produced by an inertial rotary atomizer equipped with an internal hydrodynamic flow-conditioning system. The experiments were conducted using a Box–Behnken experimental design and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Fifteen experimental runs, including three center-point replicates, were performed to evaluate the combined effects of the operating parameters. Liquid flow rate, rotor rotational speed, and spraying height were selected as independent variables. The response variables included the characteristic droplet diameters (d10, d50 and d90), the Span coefficient, and droplet deposition density (N). Quadratic regression models were fitted to the experimental data to explore the influence of the operating parameters on spray characteristics; however, statistical diagnostics indicated limited predictive capability, and the models were therefore used primarily for exploratory interpretation of response trends within the investigated design space. The experimental results indicated that rotor speed exhibited the strongest tendency to influence droplet-size characteristics within the investigated operating range, while increasing liquid flow rate was associated with larger droplet diameters, consistent with the expected effect of increased liquid-film thickness. Within the investigated atomizer configuration, relatively narrow droplet-size distributions were experimentally observed under selected operating conditions. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that internal hydrodynamic flow conditioning may contribute to liquid-film destabilization and subsequent breakup. However, its independent contribution cannot be isolated from the present experiments because an otherwise identical baseline atomizer without the flow-conditioning element was not tested. Within the model-predicted favorable operating region (liquid flow rate of 1.0 × 10−6 m3·s−1, rotor rotational speed of 4600–5100 min−1, and spraying height of 30 cm), the fitted response-surface model predicted a volume median droplet diameter of approximately 64 μm. Separately, the minimum experimentally observed Span coefficient was approximately 0.58, indicating a relatively narrow deposited-droplet-size distribution within the investigated operating range. This model-predicted region was not independently verified by a dedicated confirmation experiment and therefore should not be interpreted as an experimentally validated optimum. The proposed physical interpretation considers hydrodynamic flow conditioning as a plausible additional mechanism contributing to spray uniformity, although its quantitative validation requires dedicated flow diagnostics and CFD analysis. The obtained results characterize the spray behavior of the developed atomizer within the investigated operating domain and provide an experimental basis for future comparative studies aimed at quantifying the independent contribution of the internal flow-conditioning system. These findings provide experimental evidence supporting further investigation of this concept and may contribute to the development of rotary atomizers for precision agricultural spraying and other engineering applications requiring controlled droplet-size distributions.