Direct numerical simulation of SpraySyn burner: Impact of liquid solvent

The SpraySyn burner is a new system recently developed at the University of Duisburg-Essen to investigate experimentally nanoparticle synthesis in spray flames for a variety of materials. The current project aims at performing direct numerical simulations with detailed physicochemical models of configurations closely related to this burner. The effect of using different solvents to produce titanium-dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles is discussed in this work. The two solvents considered are o-xylene and ethanol mixed in liquid state with tetraisopropoxide to form TiO2. The liquid is injected into a pilot flame as dispersed spray with a carrier flow (dispersion gas). The resulting particle size distribution is examined as well. It is in particular observed that using ethanol leads to faster agglomeration and larger nanoparticles. This effect is qualitatively similar to that found when injecting smaller liquid spray droplets.