Experimental Study and Optimization of AIr Atomized Spray With Surfactant Added Water to Produce High Cooling Rate

The current research deals with the heat transfer study using air atomized spray with surfactant added water for cooling a hot steel plate (6 mm thick) at high initial surface temperature (~900°C). Experiments were conducted with an air atomized spray at a fixed nozzle-to-plate distance and at different impingement density, air flow rate, and surfactant concentration. An inverse heat conduction model has been developed for the estimation of surface heat flux and surface temperature from the experimentally recorded temperature profile. From the experimental data, response surface methodology (RSM) has been used to derive statistical correlations for cooling rate and surface heat flux. Analysis shows that the predicted values obtained from the statistical model are in close agreement with the experimental data. In addition to the above, the interaction behavior and the optimal values of different process variables (impingement density, air flow rate, and surfactant concentration) are also determined. The achieved cooling rate and the developed correlations can be useful in the steel industry to produce high strength steel.