## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Application and Limitations of the Detector Deactivation Method  
In the following section, the method of beam-steering correction by detector deactivation is illustrated. Therefore, the measurement of droplet sizes generated by an internal mixing Air-Core-Liquid-Ring (ACLR) atomizer [14; 15; 16; 17; 18] is depicted in Figure 3A (\(\mu\) = 0.12 Pa\(\cdot\)s; p\({}_{\text{G}}\) = 0.8 MPa; \(\dot{V}_{L}\) = 20 L/h; GLR = 0.36). According to the form of the q\({}_{3}\)-plot, with the characteristic gap between the real and apparent droplet size distribution, the measured signal on the inner detectors is solely caused by the beam-steering effect under these conditions [5]. When the corresponding detectors are deactivated (in this case detector 1-8), the mathematical inversion procedure calculates the particle size distribution, shown in Figure 1 (filled circles). As the detector deactivation simply results in a reduction of the instrument's measurement range, the corrected droplet size distribution shows the same form as when the beam-steering peak is manually cut off, and the remaining area under the curve is standardized to a value of 1 (manual cut, Figure 1). It can be concluded that the method of detector inactivation does not change the properties of the real particle distribution if the real and apparent parts of the measured distribution are clearly separated. The method of manual distribution cutting is not usually performed as manipulation of the result of the measurement device is not preferred. However, detector deactivation essentially uses the same method. When droplet sizes increase, the real and apparent parts of the distribution might not be completely separated in the plot of q\({}_{3}\), see example in Figure 4, although the beam-steering peak is clearly distinct in the given example (\(\mu\) = 0.69 Pa-s; PG = 0.8 MPa; \(\dot{V}_{L}\) = 20 L/h; GLR = 0.35). In this case, the signal measured by certain detectors is composed of light, diffracted by large particles and of light, scattered due to the beam-steering effect. It is not possible to determine the different fractions of light. If all affected detectors are deactivated, a portion of light would be cut off that is actually diffracted by existing large droplets. Additionally, it is not possible to clearly measure which detectors are solely affected by the beam-steering effect, making it even more difficult to decide how many detectors can be deactivated. Moreover, it is important to notice that the measurement range of the prediction model for the correlation between the light intensity measurement and corresponding droplet size distribution is not necessarily affected by detector deactivation. The depicted graph does not decrease to zero when the end of the measurement range is reached. It is noteworthy at this point,  
Figure 4: Exemplary volumetric density distribution with beam-steering effect (\(\mu\) = 0.69 Pa-s; PG = 0.8 MPa; \(\dot{V}_{L}\) = 20 L/h; GLR = 0.35). The real and apparent distribution parts overlap. No beam-steering correction performed. Figure 3: (**A**) Exemplary volumetric density distribution with beam-steering effect (\(\mu\) = 0.12 Pa-s; PG = 0.8 MPa; \(\dot{V}_{L}\) = 20 L/h; GLR = 0.36). Real and apparent distribution parts are completely separated. (**B**) Distribution after beam-steering correction by distribution cutting (empty circles) and detector deactivation (filled circles). that the measurement range is given as 2-2000 \(\upmu\)m by the manufacturer for the used setup. However, the implemented mathematical inversion routine calculates droplet sizes up to 2500 \(\upmu\)m, based on the underlying probability function which is defined to infinity, see Equation (2). This also means that when detectors are deactivated and the real distribution includes droplets with sizes near the maximum measurable size, it is possible that the calculated droplet size distribution will include droplets that are actually outside the instrument's reduced measurement range.