Air jet interaction with a wetted surface: towards designing the next generation auto wash facilities

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The use of salt and other harsh chemicals is common in Canada to keep roads safe for driving in winter. These chemicals, while effective at keeping ice at bay on the roads, lead to premature degradation of vehicles. Suncor has developed a next-generation car wash facility, called Glide Wash, with the aim of effectively removing dirt and road chemicals from vehicles in order to extend their operational lives. As of now, the washing phase of the Glide Wash facility is performing up to expectations. The drying phase, however, is underperforming. Current generation dryers are loud, consume considerable energy, and, most importantly, have been found not to meet corporate or consumer satisfaction requirements regarding water removal performance. This proposal seeks to improve the water removal process through a series of experimental investigations on the interaction of an air jet with surface water droplets. The aerodynamic loading on the water droplets is expected to depend on the distance of the droplet from the jet impact location on the vehicle, with droplets far from impact site experiencing more uniform flow, while the near jet region the droplets experience sharp spatial gradients in loading. The deformation and motility of water droplets due to the applied aerodynamic loading will be investigated for various jet parameters, including angle and speed, with the aim of developing a set of guidelines for the jet characteristics necessary to optimally remove water from the surface. These guidelines will be aid in the development of next generation air jet dryers for incorporation into the Glide Wash family of car wash facilities.