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DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE SPRAY DISPENSER TO REDUCE INDOOR AIR EMISSIONS FROM AEROSOL CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Citation:
Sojka, P. AND M. Plesniak. DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE SPRAY DISPENSER TO REDUCE INDOOR AIR EMISSIONS FROM AEROSOL CONSUMER PRODUCTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-98/089 (NTIS PB98-172471), 1998.
Impact/Purpose:
ihformation
Description:
The report presents the operating principles and performance of a new type of spray nozzle. This nozzle, termed a "ligament-controlled effervescent atomizer," was developed to allow consumer product manufacturers to replace volatile organic compound (VOC) solvents with water, and hydrocarbon (HC) propellants with air, while meeting the following restrictions: that the spray mean drop size (reported here as Sauter mean diameter, or SMD) remain below 70 micrometers, that the atomizing air consumption be less than 0.009, and that atomizer performance be uncompromised by the increase in surface tension or by changes in viscosity. The current atomizer differs from previous effervescent designs by inclusion of a porous disk immediately upstream of the nozzle exit orifice. This disk controls the diameter of ligaments formed at the injector exit plane. First, steady-state atomizer performance is reported in terms of the spray SMD. Transient atomizer performance is reported second, again in terms of spray SMD. Entrainment of ambient air into these sprays is reported last. Approaches for controlling entrainment (i.e., modification of the dispenser exit orifice geometry) are also introduced, and their utility discussed in terms of their entrainment number values.