The widespread uses of suspensions in industry such as paint products, slurry fuels, and coal slurry transportation have for long provided motivations for their study. Recently, additional impetus for study of suspensions has been generated since coal-water slurry (CWS) fuel was recognized as the potentially most economical means for the usage of coal, one of the nation's most abundant energy resources, to replace oil in utility boilers. The research is concerned with experimental and theoretical studies of two related subjects, rheology and airblast atomization, in concentrated suspensions of particles larger than colloidal sizes. The major research objective is to improve understanding of the structure and the underlying mechanisms of concentrated suspensions with application to CWS technology. Research emphasis will be placed on particle-particle and particle-fluid interactions as affected by particle surface property.
