Acceleration wave breakup of liquid jets with airstreams

Characteristic mean drop diameters were determined for downstream and upstream injection into nonswirling and swirling airflows. The effects of the aerodynamic and liquid surface forces on the mean drop size were obtained with a scanning radiometer. Water jet breakup was studied primarily in the acceleration wave regime with values of WeRe 10 to the 6th power and the following empirical expression was obtained: D(o)/D(m) =C (WeRe) to the 0.4, power where D(o) and D(m) are the orifice and mean drop diameters, respectively. We and Re are the Weber and Reynolds numbers defined as repectively, We = rho(a)D(o)V(r)/sigma and Re = D(o)V(r)/nu, where V(r) and rho(a) are airstream relative velocity and density, respectively, and sigma and nu are surface tension and kinematic viscosity of the liquid, respectively. The proportionally constant C was evaluated as follows: for downstream injection, C = 0.023 with nonswirling airflow, and C = 0.027 with swirling airflow. For upstream injection, the empirical expression D(o)/D(m) = 0.0045 (WeRe) to the 0.5 power was obtained with nonswirling airflow. Experimental conditions included a water flow rate of 68 liter per hour and an airflow rate per unit area range of 4.6 to 25.2 gm/sq cm sec at 293 K and atmospheric pressure

Characterization of simulated small-droplet fuel sprays

A two-fluid pneumatic atomizer operating at relatively high liquid and gas pressures produced water sprays that simulated small-droplet clouds of liquid fuel for use in studying vaporization and fuel-air mixing effects on combustor performance and emissions. To characterize the sprays, a scattered-light scanning instrument was developed and measurements of volume median or volume mean diameter, D sub V.5, were correlated with D sub O, W sub w, and W sub n, i.e., orifice diameter, water, and nitrogen gas flow rates, respectively, to give the general expression: D sub v.5 approx. (D sub o sup 0.2) (W sub w sup m) (W sub n sup n), which yields D sub v.5 = 45 (D sub o sup 0.2) (W sub w sup 0.2) (W sub w sup - 1.2). Values of D sub o, W sub w, and W sub n are in centimeters and grams/second, respectively. Farther downstream at an axial distance of 6.7 cm, exponent m increased from 0.2 to 0.4 and exponent n decreased from -1.2 to -1.0 and at a distance of 25 cm downstream of the atomizer, n decreased to -0.8. The increase in exponent m and decrease in exponent n was attributed to a loss of very small droplets from the spray due primarily to vaporization and diffusion effects on clouds of small droplets traveling a distance of 25 cm

Atomizing characteristics of swirl can combustor modules with swirl blast fuel injectors

Cold flow atomization tests of several different designs of swirl can combustor modules were conducted in a 7.6 cm diameter duct at airflow rates (per unit area) of 7.3 to 25.7 g/sq cm sec and water flow rates of 6.3 to 18.9 g/sec. The effect of air and water flow rates on the mean drop size of water sprays produced with the swirl blast fuel injectors were determined. Also, from these data it was possible to determine the effect of design modifications on the atomizing performance of various fuel injector and air swirler configurations. The trend in atomizing performance, as based on the mean drop size, was then compared with the trends in the production of nitrogen oxides obtained in combustion studues with the same swirl can combustors. It was found that the fuel injector design that gave the best combustor performance in terms of a low NOx emission index also gave the best atomizing performance as characterized by a spray of relatively small mean drop diameter. It was also demonstrated that at constant inlet air stream momentum the nitrogen oxides emission index was found to vary inversely with the square of the mean drop diameter of the spray produced by the different swirl blast fuel injectors. Test conditions were inlet air static pressures of 100,000 to 200,000 N/sq m at an inlet air temperature of 293 K

Atomization of water jets and sheets in axial and swirling airflows

Axial and swirling airflows were used to break up water jets and sheets into sprays of droplets to determine the overall effects of orifice diameter, weight flow of air, and the use of an air swirler on fineness of atomization as characterized by mean drop size. A scanning radiometer was used to determine the mean drop diameter of each spray. Swirling airflows were produced with an axial combustor, 70 deg blake angle, air swirling. Water jets were injected axially upstream, axially downstream and cross stream into the airflow. In addition, pressure atomizing fuel nozzles which produced a sheet and ligament type of breakup were investigated. Increasing the weight flow rate of air or the use of an air swirling markedly reduced the spray mean drop size

Formation and characterization of simulated small droplet icing clouds

Two pneumatic two-fluid atomizers operating at high liquid and gas pressures produced water sprays that simulated small droplet clouds for use in studying icing effects on aircraft performance. To measure median volume diameter, MVD or D sub v.5, of small droplet water sprays, a scattered-light scanning instrument was developed. Drop size data agreed fairly well with calculated values at water and nitrogen pressures of 60 and 20 psig, respectively, and at water and nitrogen pressures of 250 and 100 psig, respectively, but not very well at intermediate values of water and nitrogen pressure. MVD data were correlated with D sub 0, W sub N, and W sub w, i.e., orifice diameter, nitrogen, and water flowrate, respectively, to give the expression for MVD in microns

Spontaneous ignition temperature limits of jet A fuel in research-combustor segment

The effects of inlet-air pressure and reference velocity on the spontaneous-ignition temperature limits of Jet A fuel were determined in a combustor segment with a primary-zone length of 0.076 m (3 in.). At a constant reference velocity of 21.4 m/sec (170 ft/sec), increasing the inlet-air pressure from 21 to 207 N/sq cm decreased the spontaneous-ignition temperature limit from approximately 700 to 555 K. At a constant inlet-air pressure of 41 N/sq cm, increasing the reference velocity from 12.2 to 30.5 m/sec increased the spontaneous-ignition temperature limit from approximately 575 to 800 K. Results are compared with other data in the literature

Liquid fuel spray processes in high-pressure gas flow

Atomization of single liquid jets injected downstream in high pressure and high velocity airflow was investigated to determine the effect of airstream pressure on mean drop size as measured with a scanning radiometer. For aerodynamic - wave breakup of liquid jets, the ratio of orifice diameter D sub o to measured mean drop diameter D sub m which is assumed equal to D sub 32 or Sauter mean diameter, was correlated with the product of the Weber and Reynolds numbers WeRe and the dimensionless group G1/square root of c, where G is the gravitational acceleration, 1 the mean free molecular path, and square root of C the root mean square velocity, as follows; D sub o/D sub 32 = 1.2 (WeRe) to the 0.4 (G1/square root of c) to the 0.15 for values of WeRe 1 million and an airstream pressure range of 0.10 to 2.10 MPa

Effect of airstream velocity on mean drop diameters of water sprays produced by pressure and air atomizing nozzles

A scanning radiometer was used to determine the effect of airstream velocity on the mean drop diameter of water sprays produced by pressure atomizing and air atomizing fuel nozzles used in previous combustion studies. Increasing airstream velocity from 23 to 53.4 meters per second reduced the Sauter mean diameter by approximately 50 percent with both types of fuel nozzles. The use of a sonic cup attached to the tip of an air assist nozzle reduced the Sauter mean diameter by approximately 40 percent. Test conditions included airstream velocities of 23 to 53.4 meters per second at 293 K and atmospheric pressure

Penetration of drops into high-velocity airstreams

Penetration of drops determined for cross current injection of isooctane jets into high velocity airstream

Air-atomizing splash-cone fuel nozzle reduces pollutant emissions from turbojet engines

Advantages of fuel nozzle over conventional pressure-atomizing fuel nozzles: simplicity of construction, ability to distribute fuel-air mixture uniformly across full height of combustor without using auxiliary air supply, reliability when using contaminated fuels, and durability of nozzle at high operating temperatures