Atomization characteristics of bitumen crude-water emulsion

Measurements of the angular patterns of scattered light were carried out on sprays of an emulsion of bitumen crude (70% by weight) in water produced by a home-built air-assisted atomizer at different air flow rates. The size distribution of the bitumen droplets was previously measured by optical microscopy. A quantitative comparison of the scattering measurements in terms of the polarization ratio with the Lorenz-Mie theory allows the identification of the nature of spray and its droplets size distribution (DSD). For all the atomization conditions, the patterns show the influence of a large amount of small droplets that might have been stripped from the emulsion rather than produced during atomization. On the other hand, an increase of the amount of the large droplets was observed compared with the parent emulsion. The satellite water droplets number increases with the atomization energy.