Predicting spray carry over through computational modelling
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Computational Fluid Dynamics
Abstract
Spraying is ubiquitous and finds application within delivery of materials (e.g. paints, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, personal-care products) to surfaces (e.g. crops, fabrics, skin). The spraying process is complex and includes physics around (i) a breakup of a (formulated) liquid from a continuous stream on leaving the spray-nozzle into (ii) discrete droplets (the spray) (iii) evaporation of propellant (iv) transport of droplet/particles to surfaces and (v) impact, adhesion or bounce of droplets/particulate into the evolving flow that carries material away from the surface.
A modelling approach is proposed which will allow a better understanding of the controlling parameters that describe the fate of droplets/particles sprayed onto surfaces. The proposed approach will focus on personal care products where carryover of particulates into the air can cause respiratory discomfort. A particular feature of this work is that the spray is a complex formulated product and at the point of impact will be a mix of particulates and oils that form the functional coating, with the carrier fluid responsible for the propellant having evaporated from the material. Also, the shape of the surface to which the spray is directed is relatively complex and will also be responsible for how the airflow (and thus the transport) evolves.
A modelling approach is proposed which will allow a better understanding of the controlling parameters that describe the fate of droplets/particles sprayed onto surfaces. The proposed approach will focus on personal care products where carryover of particulates into the air can cause respiratory discomfort. A particular feature of this work is that the spray is a complex formulated product and at the point of impact will be a mix of particulates and oils that form the functional coating, with the carrier fluid responsible for the propellant having evaporated from the material. Also, the shape of the surface to which the spray is directed is relatively complex and will also be responsible for how the airflow (and thus the transport) evolves.
Planned Impact
The impact and benefits will reach multiple stakeholders.
(i) CDT Students:- Will develop substantial technical and transferable skills enabling them to build a career and become leaders in industry or academia. In addition to a wide range of computational, modelling and experimental techniques, students will have many opportunities to develop team working, communication and problem solving skills. Students will have very strong career prospects with a wide range of options, including industry and public sector.
(ii) End-user partners:- Will gain access to a pool of at least 50 skilled graduates to innovate in their business and to realise direct impact from research outcomes: new products, processes, and tools. New or strengthened collaborations with academic partners will also follow.
(iii) Academic overseas collaborators:- will share new research outputs, stronger partnerships with Leeds, and knowledge exchange on tools and techniques: thus benefiting research outcomes and researcher training in both countries.
(iv) Other students:- Will have the opportunity to visit Leeds, whilst future students will have access to the new tools and techniques developed by the CDT for learning, thus inspiring new UG/MSc/PhD projects.
(v) Research at Leeds:- We will consolidate our critical mass of fluids-based research through the development of a "cohort of academics", as well as cohorts of students. New research outputs and new collaborations (across Leeds, with industry and overseas) will follow, and we will promote our large body of work coherently with external partners and to the media.
(vi) Other industry:- New tools, processes and techniques developed through research during the CDT will be disseminated via industrial as well as academic routes. We will pro-actively encourage new partners to engage with the CDT as it evolves.
(vii) The economy:- Skilled graduates are key to economic growth and ours will contribute to challenge areas such as energy, the environment, the health sector, as well as those with chronic skills shortage such as the nuclear industry. Innovation, typically in partnership with industry, will lead to economic benefits such as new products, services and spin out.
(viii) Society:- Research leading to new insights into energy, the environment and health challenges will lead to healthier, safer and more efficient environments for the public. Public engagement activities will raise the profile of Fluid Dynamics, and enable the public to understand its enormous breadth of application, and importance, to real world problems.
Evidence for impact creation comes partly from government sponsored reports pointing to the need for well-trained graduates in fluid dynamics, and also from the many letters of support we have received from our partners. In consumer products P&G tell us that "within our current product portfolio, fluids feature in 21 of our 24 one billion dollar brands (more than $1 billion sales) which include detergents, shampoos, fabric softener, dishwashing liquid, batteries, toothpaste and cosmetics". In engineering design Parker Hannifin believe that "the UK will need a greater number of graduates with complementary skills in high fidelity CFD and optimisation methods". There is a similar demand in the environmental sector. For example the National Oceanography Centre state that "in the coming years we expect to build our technical expertise in areas such as numerical methods, unstructured gridding and solvers, ocean dynamics, buoyancy driven flows and ensemble methods for uncertainty estimates", while HR Wallingford "expect to require access to expertise in relevant physical processes, compressible/incompressible flow, physical model scaling, numerical methods, multi-phase flow, atmospheric flows".
(i) CDT Students:- Will develop substantial technical and transferable skills enabling them to build a career and become leaders in industry or academia. In addition to a wide range of computational, modelling and experimental techniques, students will have many opportunities to develop team working, communication and problem solving skills. Students will have very strong career prospects with a wide range of options, including industry and public sector.
(ii) End-user partners:- Will gain access to a pool of at least 50 skilled graduates to innovate in their business and to realise direct impact from research outcomes: new products, processes, and tools. New or strengthened collaborations with academic partners will also follow.
(iii) Academic overseas collaborators:- will share new research outputs, stronger partnerships with Leeds, and knowledge exchange on tools and techniques: thus benefiting research outcomes and researcher training in both countries.
(iv) Other students:- Will have the opportunity to visit Leeds, whilst future students will have access to the new tools and techniques developed by the CDT for learning, thus inspiring new UG/MSc/PhD projects.
(v) Research at Leeds:- We will consolidate our critical mass of fluids-based research through the development of a "cohort of academics", as well as cohorts of students. New research outputs and new collaborations (across Leeds, with industry and overseas) will follow, and we will promote our large body of work coherently with external partners and to the media.
(vi) Other industry:- New tools, processes and techniques developed through research during the CDT will be disseminated via industrial as well as academic routes. We will pro-actively encourage new partners to engage with the CDT as it evolves.
(vii) The economy:- Skilled graduates are key to economic growth and ours will contribute to challenge areas such as energy, the environment, the health sector, as well as those with chronic skills shortage such as the nuclear industry. Innovation, typically in partnership with industry, will lead to economic benefits such as new products, services and spin out.
(viii) Society:- Research leading to new insights into energy, the environment and health challenges will lead to healthier, safer and more efficient environments for the public. Public engagement activities will raise the profile of Fluid Dynamics, and enable the public to understand its enormous breadth of application, and importance, to real world problems.
Evidence for impact creation comes partly from government sponsored reports pointing to the need for well-trained graduates in fluid dynamics, and also from the many letters of support we have received from our partners. In consumer products P&G tell us that "within our current product portfolio, fluids feature in 21 of our 24 one billion dollar brands (more than $1 billion sales) which include detergents, shampoos, fabric softener, dishwashing liquid, batteries, toothpaste and cosmetics". In engineering design Parker Hannifin believe that "the UK will need a greater number of graduates with complementary skills in high fidelity CFD and optimisation methods". There is a similar demand in the environmental sector. For example the National Oceanography Centre state that "in the coming years we expect to build our technical expertise in areas such as numerical methods, unstructured gridding and solvers, ocean dynamics, buoyancy driven flows and ensemble methods for uncertainty estimates", while HR Wallingford "expect to require access to expertise in relevant physical processes, compressible/incompressible flow, physical model scaling, numerical methods, multi-phase flow, atmospheric flows".
