RESUMO

Ten years ago, it was suggested that ILASS have a journal for spray research and applications. Many of us had experienced difficulty persuading journal editors to accept papers on sprays. An occasional paper found its way to publication in widely disparate journals that were difficult to access. Having a journal of our own would not only give us access to publication, but would also provide a focus to encourage the writing of papers on sprays. We approached several publishers who told us that in the climate of reduced budgets for libraries and increased costs of publication, journals were being closed down and there was no room for a new journal on sprays.
Bill Begell had just started a small publishing company and he was willing to take a gamble, based on his belief that spray technology would grow—much like the growth of two-phase flow. We started publication with four issues per year, and as the flow of submitted manuscripts increased, the number of issues per year climbed to six. Persuading institutional libraries and individuals to subscribe to our journal had limited success until ILASS-Americas decided to include subscription to the journal in the registration fee at their annual conferences. This provided a big boost to subscriptions and has saved the journal from extinction. ILASS Asia and Europe should be strongly encouraged to include journal subscription in their own conference registration fees.
The success of our journal can be measured by the continuous flow of manuscripts submitted, both from within the regional ILASS communities and others seeking a venue for publication. Also, the high level of citations is important for our academic colleagues seeking promotion. Our papers and readership cover a wide spectrum: physics, fluid and particle mechanics, computational fluid dynamics, mechanical and chemical engineering, fuel injection, spray drying, coatings, food processing, pharmaceutical coatings of tablets, aerosols for inhalation therapy, etc. Whereas fuel injection is at the most advanced level of theoretical and experimental analysis, other disciplines and technologies are beginning to use laser diffraction, imaging, and phase Doppler instrumentation for characterizing sprays and determining size and velocity distributions. As more industries hire engineers with computer skills who can use advanced codes for turbulent two-phase flows, such as Fluent and KIVA, industries are learning that computational analysis can provide detailed insight and predictions of fluid flow and particle characteristics.
CD roms and diskettes are leading the way toward electronic publishing, and journal articles are now available on the internet. ICLASS regional, and national ILASS and their annual conferences, combined with regular publication of the journal, have established Atomization and Sprays as a significant milestone in the field of spray science publication.