High-Performance Spinning Disc Atomisation Process
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Mathematics
Abstract
The proposed research is aimed at producing the core of a flexible technology platform for design and development of high-performance processes of manufacturing a range of engineering materials. The key idea is investigate the spinning disc atomisation process, which is the cheapest and most efficient atomisation method applicable to numerous materials, both theoretically and using theory-guided experiments, and incorporte the findings into a technological platform using the help and resources of an industrial company experiences in this kind of upscaling. Besides its main deliverable, the research will also develop a methodology of investigating a multi-faceted industrial problem where the multiplicity of potential outcomes of the technological process is controlled only implicitly by a few operational parameters.
Planned Impact
The wide use of the spinning disc atomisation (SDA) process is due to the fact that it is the
simplest, cheapest and most efficient atomisation technique. The proposed research is the first of
its kind, as it is aimed at achieving a comprehensive understanding of the process, including (a) the
modelling of SDA as a whole, with different elements of it interacting and influencing each other, as
it ultimately leads to the 'end product', i.e. droplets with a certain distribution of sizes, (b) verifying
the findings experimentally via targeted theory-guided experiments, (c) integrating the results into a
technology platform via Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. This 'holistic' approach ensures that the
obtained knowledge becomes an operational tool that will allow the industries to control and
optimize their use of the SDA in various technological conditions as well as design new
technological processes. The map of regimes to be computed and experimentally verified in the
course of this project will serve as a guide allowing one to make reliable predictions and informed
decisions in designing SDA systems and optimising their governing parameters. Thus, firstly, there
will be an immediate impact of the proposed research as its results will be turned into an
operational tool and become directly transferable to the industrial users. Both of these aspects will
be ensured via Tata Consultancy Services Ltd which is an industrial partner closely involved in this
project.
Secondly, the proposed research will develop a methodology of investigating industrial processes
characterized by an implicit connection between the few operational paramters and a rich variety of
the potential outcomes. This situation is common to a number of emerging technologies and a
methodology how to deal with the problem with a minimum of expensive and time-consuming
experiments will be of great value to, and have an immediate impact on, a number of industries.
Thirdly, extensions of the SDA technology to include additional physical and chemical factors, from
thermal to electromagnetic, to manipulate and control the process will all need the reliable
description of fluid mechanics of the SDA as the background flow, i.e. the first approximation to
build on. The methodology of the proposed research provides a framework to incorporate these
effects. In this sense, the proposed work is 'open-ended', as it allows one to set up consortia and
innovation companies to develop new technological processes.
Fourthly, the proposed work will forge a new collaborative link between the UK and India as well as
of both UK-based and India-based teams with industry. This framework will allow the teams to
initiate new long-term research programmes aimed at addressing the needs of specific
technologies.
Documentation
The main deliverables of the project will be accumulated in the computer-based form, which,
together with detailed descriptions of the products, will ensure efficient knowledge transfer to
potential users. The results will also be documented by the industrial partner who will ensure
compatibility of the platform to be developed with the existing tools. The results, as well as
additional information accumulated in the course of this study, will be continuously documented
internally to ensure continuity of the work beyond the duration of the proposed project.
Dissemination and Exploitation
On the industry side, the results will be disseminated via Tata Consultancy Services that has many
links with the users of the SDA process world wide. On the academic side, the findings of this
project will be disseminated widely by presentations at conferences, symposia and workshops, such
as DFD APS, ILASS, EUROMECH and ISCST, as well as by publication of papers in the
appropriate scientific and engineering journals, such as J. Fluid Mech., Phys. Fluids, Atomization
and Sprays, Chem. Eng. Sci., Int. J. Non-Linear Mech., Computer & Fluids.
simplest, cheapest and most efficient atomisation technique. The proposed research is the first of
its kind, as it is aimed at achieving a comprehensive understanding of the process, including (a) the
modelling of SDA as a whole, with different elements of it interacting and influencing each other, as
it ultimately leads to the 'end product', i.e. droplets with a certain distribution of sizes, (b) verifying
the findings experimentally via targeted theory-guided experiments, (c) integrating the results into a
technology platform via Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. This 'holistic' approach ensures that the
obtained knowledge becomes an operational tool that will allow the industries to control and
optimize their use of the SDA in various technological conditions as well as design new
technological processes. The map of regimes to be computed and experimentally verified in the
course of this project will serve as a guide allowing one to make reliable predictions and informed
decisions in designing SDA systems and optimising their governing parameters. Thus, firstly, there
will be an immediate impact of the proposed research as its results will be turned into an
operational tool and become directly transferable to the industrial users. Both of these aspects will
be ensured via Tata Consultancy Services Ltd which is an industrial partner closely involved in this
project.
Secondly, the proposed research will develop a methodology of investigating industrial processes
characterized by an implicit connection between the few operational paramters and a rich variety of
the potential outcomes. This situation is common to a number of emerging technologies and a
methodology how to deal with the problem with a minimum of expensive and time-consuming
experiments will be of great value to, and have an immediate impact on, a number of industries.
Thirdly, extensions of the SDA technology to include additional physical and chemical factors, from
thermal to electromagnetic, to manipulate and control the process will all need the reliable
description of fluid mechanics of the SDA as the background flow, i.e. the first approximation to
build on. The methodology of the proposed research provides a framework to incorporate these
effects. In this sense, the proposed work is 'open-ended', as it allows one to set up consortia and
innovation companies to develop new technological processes.
Fourthly, the proposed work will forge a new collaborative link between the UK and India as well as
of both UK-based and India-based teams with industry. This framework will allow the teams to
initiate new long-term research programmes aimed at addressing the needs of specific
technologies.
Documentation
The main deliverables of the project will be accumulated in the computer-based form, which,
together with detailed descriptions of the products, will ensure efficient knowledge transfer to
potential users. The results will also be documented by the industrial partner who will ensure
compatibility of the platform to be developed with the existing tools. The results, as well as
additional information accumulated in the course of this study, will be continuously documented
internally to ensure continuity of the work beyond the duration of the proposed project.
Dissemination and Exploitation
On the industry side, the results will be disseminated via Tata Consultancy Services that has many
links with the users of the SDA process world wide. On the academic side, the findings of this
project will be disseminated widely by presentations at conferences, symposia and workshops, such
as DFD APS, ILASS, EUROMECH and ISCST, as well as by publication of papers in the
appropriate scientific and engineering journals, such as J. Fluid Mech., Phys. Fluids, Atomization
and Sprays, Chem. Eng. Sci., Int. J. Non-Linear Mech., Computer & Fluids.
Publications
Li Y
(2018)
Spinning disk atomization: Theory of the ligament regime
in Physics of Fluids
Li Y
(2019)
On the breakup of spiralling liquid jets
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Shikhmurzaev Y
(2017)
Spiralling liquid jets: verifiable mathematical framework, trajectories and peristaltic waves
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
| Description | The mathematical model and the corresponding numerical platform describing the spinning disc atomisation process in its entirety, from the film flow on the disc up to the formation of drops from the ligaments in which the fluid film leaves the disc separates, have been developed, analysed and verified by comparing the results with experimental data. These findings have been published in a definitive paper in Physics of Fluids where the theory of the spinning disc atomisation process in the ligament regime has been laid out. The key findings obtained are as follows. 1. Most importantly, the conducted research has found the origin of disturbances that determine the size of the drops produced in the spinning disc atomisation process and developed the methodology of quantitative calculation of their frequency and the place from where they start developing. This discovery paves the way for developing and validating reliable simplified methods of predicting the outcome of the spinning disc atomisation process that would not require solving computationally a complex 3D unsteady free-boundary problem, which is what had to be done in the course of this project. 2. A methodology has been developed allowing one to analyse the evolution of disturbances along spatially varying non-axisymmetric long spiralling jets which cannot be done using standard numerical simulation. This methodology can be applied to a wide variety of devices based on the use of the centrifugal force, e.g. in various atomizers and in manufacturing fibers of different kind (glass fibers, nanofibers, etc). 3. A detailed verifiable theoretical framework for studying curved liquid jets has been laid out, which sets the studies of these flows on a regular footing. In particular, it has been shown that the majority of results reported in the world in this area in the past 20 years contain serious errors, and the correct procedures and the results on its basis, which are now made public in a series of papers, clean this research area of mistakes and misunderstandings. The developed geometric framework can be used for a number of jetting flows involving curved jets. 4. In developing a new computational algorithm, a method of matching models operating with different dimensionalities in different regions of the flow domain has been formulated and tested numerically. 5. It has been found that the size of the main drop produced by a spiralling jet is proportional to the jet's radius at the point of breakup. The latter can be found from a set of ordinary differential equations derived as part of the project. 6. It has been shown that the disturbances leading to the breakup of ligaments and the formation of drops are neither those associated with the waves on the spinning disc nor those associated with the local instability of the jet where the drops appear. |
| Exploitation Route | The theoretical findings (a) make it possible to develop and validate simplified mathematical models describing a number of technological processes involving liquid jets driven by centrifugal forces and (b) provide a rigorous framework for the description of curved liquid jets in various processes, not necessarily involving drop formation. The developed computational platform can be used and, with the industrial involvement, generate tangible economic impact, in particular allow the industry to develop technological processes for producing, for example, ultrafine drops/particles. To ensure this, the Business Engagement Unit and the KTN at Birmingham are now engaged in finding the industries interested in taking the project forward. Part of this effort resulted in consultations with Atomising Systems Ltd. If the researcher employed and trained in the framework of this project gets partial funding from industry, the project could be carried forward to produce a working tool for industrial research and development. |
| Sectors | Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | The Spinning Disc Atomisation process has been, for the first time, modelled theoretically/computationally from start to finish, i.e. from the wavy film flow on the rotating disc, through the unsteady three-dimensional flow in the transition zone, the fluctuating and drifting ligaments that stretch from the disc's rim and up to the formation of drops at the ligaments' ends. The results of the modelling have been verified by comparing them with experimental data from the literature with the agreement between theory and experiment being very good. The developed computational platform is now capable to operate in a range of industrially-relevant regimes. Given that the spinning disc atomisation technology is an integral part of many industries, the University of Birmingham is beginning to engage potential industrial users of the developed platform. As part of the outreach strategy, the Business Engagement Unit of the University of Birmingham has filled in the case of the Knowledge Transfer Network aimed at finding industrial users for the obtained results and methods. In parallel, the Business Engagement Unit is undertaking steps to contact potential beneficiaries directly. The development of the platform has created many know-hows, including the methodology of dealing with 3-dimensional unsteady free-boundary flow in the complex geometry of the transition zone and the way of incorporating mathematical models of different type operating in different regions of the flow domain. This methodology and the experience gained in its implementation constitute the most far-reaching aspect of the research that has been carried out. It has been disseminated via a number of research forums, from the general-purpose colloquia and conferences (BAMC 2016, EFMC 2016) to the specialized meetings involving, in particular, industrial practitioners (ILASS 2016, EMN Meeting on Droplets 2016). A particular far-reaching outcome of the investigation is that it has been discovered that the entire research output produced in the area of curved liquid jets worldwide has been fundamentally erroneous and hence could only massively mislead its potential users, notably industrial, and misdirect the ongoing research effort. As one of the outcomes of the project is a detailed study showing where and how the mistakes occurred and what the correct procedure and results are. This study, which now paves the way for different applications involving curved liquid jets, has been reported at the 11th European Fluid Mechanics Conferenced (Seville, Spain, 2016) and generated considerable interest among practitioners. A paper laying out a verifiable mathematical framework for this class of fluid flows and an analysis of the errors published in the literature has been published in the top journal in the field (Journal of Fluid Mechanics). Another far-reaching outcome is the analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of waves on a spiralling jet which allows one to predict the sizes not only of the 'main' drops that form as the jet breaks up but also the size of the satellite droplets that follow the main ones. As can be deduced from recent publications, qualitative results of this study have been used in industrial research albeit outside the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | The EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Scheme. |
| Amount | £44,450 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Department | University of Birmingham EPSRC Follow On Fund |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2017 |
| End | 04/2018 |
| Title | Computational platform for Spinning Disc Atomisation |
| Description | A computational platform describing the Spinning Disc Atomisation process comprising (a) a code dealing with the non-linear waves in the film that is driven over the surface of the disc by the centrifugal force away from the axis of rotation, (b) the code modelling the 3-dimensional unsteady free-boundary viscous flow in the transition zone and the ligaments that leave the disc, (c) the code describing the evolution of non-linear waves along the curved ligaments, and (d) the code describing how the drops form at the end of the ligaments. The developed platform is in an 'academic' state, i.e. it can be operated only by the research team, but with the right level of investment it could be developed into a commercial product with a wide circle of industrial users. |
| Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | At its current state, the developed computational platform can be used only by its developer and could impact manufacturing via industrial engagement. The University of Birmingham is currently exploring potential routes for such engagement. |
| Description | A presentation at International Conference on Fluid Dynamics & Thermodynamics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk at the Intl Conference on Fluid Dynamics and Thermodynamics. The audience included practitioners of fluid mechanics understood in a very broad sense, from researchers to engineers interested solely in practical applications. The talk was well received, generated a number of questions and follow-up via the internet. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | A presentation at Intl Workshop < |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation was given to the audience of the international workshop. The audience was by invitation only and it was made up on the top currently active researchers in the field of dynamic wetting and related areas. The impact of the talk was such that a sizeable part of the audience reported a change in their view on the mathematical modelling of dynamic wetting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | A presentation at the 10th International Conference "Waves and Vortices in Complex Media" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation to a highly specialized audience whose main interest is in the wave and vortex dynamics, the phenomenon which is at the centre of this project. The talk was followed by an interesting discussion and suggested some new lines of inquiry. One of these lines has become the basis of the current work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | A presentation at the 12th All-Russia Congress on Fundamental Problems of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The main results have been presented at the All-Russia Congress which is held once every 5 years and brings together researchers working on both theoretical aspects of fluid mechanics and applications. This is, arguably, the toughest audience to convince. The talk was well received, in particular the way differential geometry has been applied to the practical problem the project dealt with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | A talk at EDDOMAS-2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk waas given at the 8th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences & Engineering (ECCOMAS-2022) in Oslo, Norway. The purpose of the talk was to inform the audience consisting of the top professionals in computational methods about the new numerical technique which was developed in the course of the project and enabled us to solve the problem unassailable to other computational methods. The presetation received a very favourable reaction. In particular, it was pointed out by the chariman of the session that the developed technique is a marked improvement on the attempts at solving a similar problem known in the literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at BAMC 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at BAMC 2016: Li, Y., Sisoev, G. M. & Shikhmurzaev, Y. D. 2016 From falling film to dripping jet: modelling and comptations. British Applied Mathematics Colloquium, April 5-8, 2016, Oxford, U.K. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation at ILASS 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the ILASS conference: Li, Y., Sisoev, G. M. & Shikhmurzaev, Y. D. 2016 Spinning disc atomization process: Modelling and computations. Proc. of ILASS Conf. 2016, Sept. 4-7, 2016, Brighton, UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation at the 11th EFMC, 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the 11th EFMC: Shikhmurzaev, Y. D., Sisoev, G. M. & Li, Y. 2016 Curved liquid jets: Mathematical framework, trajectories, waves. 11th Euro. Fluid Mech. Conf., September 13-16, 2016, Seville, Spain. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation at the EMN Meeting on Droplets 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | At an invitation of the organizers of the annual Engineering, Materials, Nanotechnology (EMN) Meetings, which bring together academics and researchers from industry, a presentation was given which covered some of the results obtained in the course of this project. http://emnmeeting.org/droplets/2016/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Droplets-2016-Scientific-Program.pdf |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Talk at Lincoln |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk was given at University of Lincoln covering a range of topics, including the new ideas in the modelling of flows in porous media and applications of the interface formation model to the spinning disc atomisation process. The talk engaged a new audience and generated a lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://comp-physics-lincoln.org/2018/10/26/yulii-d-shikhmurzaev-visiting/ |
| Description | Talk at TU Darmstadt |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation of some results obtained in the modelling of the spinning disc atomisation process, including the developed verifiable mathematical framework for the description of curved liquid jets, has been given to the audience consisting primarily of applied mathematicians and engineers. The talk was well received and some members of the audience reported a change of views on this topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |