Considerations in designing a centrifugal atomiser for metal powder production

In centrifugal atomisation for metal powder production, the key to the control of the particle sizes is the design of the atomiser. This paper studies the main issues concerned in designing a centrifugal atomiser and provides guidance on the selection of an electric motor, radius of atomiser, slope angle of atomiser wall and flow rate of cooling water. In the selection of the atomiser radius, the power and material constraints as well as the hydraulic jump radius need to be considered. A cup atomiser with a slope angle of 60–70° would result in small spray droplets and thus a fine powder. The water cooling system needs to be assessed by examining the heat flow in the solid metal layer and in the atomiser.