An analysis of spray evaporation in a high‐temperature environment: I. Radiant heat transfer to clouds of droplets and particles

This series of papers presents an analysis of the rate of evaporation of a spray which is injected into a cylindrical column, the walls of which are maintained at a high temperature. The method is an extension of the Hottel‐Cohen analysis of the radiant heat transfer to an absorbing gas of non‐uniform temperature1 and permits the calculation of the magnitude and distribution of the heat flux at the wall. The present paper discusses the difficulties inherent in the calculation of the absorption of thermal radiation by clouds of particles suspended in an absorbing gas medium. Approximations to the intractable exact solution are made to permit the calculation of the absorption strength of spray from operating conditions and the properties of the atomized liquid. The various reception factors for the cylindrical system have been accurately determined as a function of the combined absorption strength of spray and medium. The use of these factors in the present system is discussed.