Enhanced liquid atomization:: From flow-focusing to flow-blurring -: art. no. 214101

This letter describes the generation of small turbulence scales in connection with a singular back-flow pattern leading to efficient atomization. A simple pneumatic atomizer configuration results, with a tenfold efficiency increase over available plain-jet air-blast atomizers. Back-flow atomization derives from a global bifurcation of the liquid-gas flow pattern; the bifurcation is triggered by a single geometrical parameter of the atomizer. The extremely simple geometry involved can be implemented down to the micrometric scale, thus opening the door to the improvement of current atomizers and to unprecedented designs. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.