Stability of an electrified liquid jet approaching to critical point

Abstract

This article reports the linear stability analysis of a thermodynamic-transcritical jet sprayed to a radial electrical field. An asymptotic approach was used to obtain the stability solution of a supercritical jet subjected to electrical field. In order to obtain the solutions for the electrified supercritical jet, the surface tension was decreased and consequently led the increase in Weber number in the linear governing equation of subcritical charged jet. To investigate the role of surface tension and electric stress playing in the destabilizing process when approaching the critical point, the energy budget is performed by tracing the energy sources. It was found that, when the Weber number is increased to a sufficiently large value, the solution will become an asymptotic value, which can be considered as a solution under the supercritical conditions. The electric stress can increase both the maximum growth rate and the dominant wave number of electrified supercritical jet, that is, higher electrical field intensity would enhance the instability of the electrified supercritical jet and decrease the wavelength of the disturbances.