Effect of Nondimensional Parameters On the Internal Circulation of a Liquid Drop Moving with the Surrounding Gas

The internal flow circulation dynamics of a liquid drop moving in a co- or counter-flowing gas stream has been numerically studied. The present work is concerned with the time accurate numerical solution of the two phase flow field at the low Mach number limit with an appropriate volume tracking method to capture motion and deformation of a liquid drop. It is shown that relative velocity between gas and liquid and the parameters controlling the deformation of the drop have the strongest influence on its internal circulation, too. The effects of the liquid Weber number, ranging from 8 to 32, and of gas stream Reynolds number, ranging from 1 to 20 are studied. It was revealed that the largest and the most lasting internal circulation are observed in drops with small deformation in high Reynolds number gas streams. In the case of counter-flowing gas stream, there is a strong internal circulation inside the liquid drop. The locations of the gas separation points on the drop are strongly influenced by the internal circulation of the drop, resulting in a complex wake dynamics.

Keywords: Numerical solution, Two phase flow, Moving droplet, Droplet internal circulation