Academic literature on the topic 'Sprays from coaxial atomizers'

Phase Doppler measurements of size, velocity, liquid flux, and average mass fractions were obtained in sprays produced by three identical coaxial airblast atomizers, with their axes placed in a triangular arrangement at distances of two air jet diameters from each other; the arrangement simulates the spray interaction in the preburner of the space shuttle main engine with water and air respectively replacing the liquid oxygen and hydrogen of the preburner sprays. Each nozzle comprised a liquid jet with exit diameter of 2.3 mm centred in a 8.95 mm diameter air stream. Two liquid flowrates were examined, while the air flowrate was kept constant, resulting in Weber number at the exit of the nozzle around 1100, air-to-liquid momentum ratio 8.6 and 38, velocity ratio 24 and 51, mass flowrate ratio 0.35 and 0.75, liquid jet Reynolds number 10,000 and 21,000 and air jet Reynolds number around 108,000. The air flow characteristics were compared to the flow without liquid injection. Up to 10 air jet diameters from the nozzle exit, individual spray characteristics dominated and maximum Sauter mean diameters, typically around 150 μm, and liquid flux were observed on the geometrical axes of the nozzles. Spray merging was strong in the region between the nozzle axes, where the Sauter mean diameter reduced and the liquid flux and the mean and rms of the fluctuations of the axial velocity of the droplets and the air flow increased relative to the single spray. Downstream of 25 air jet diameters from the nozzle exit, the multiple sprays merged to a single spray-like flow produced by a nozzle located at the centre of the triangular region between the nozzle axes. Reduction of the liquid flowrate by 50 percent, improved atomization by 25 percent, shortened the axial distance from the nozzles where the individual spray characteristics disappeared by 30 percent and increased the air flow turbulence by 20 percent. Droplet coalescence was negligible for high liquid flowrates, but for reduced liquid flowrates coalescence became important and the Sauter mean diameter increased with the axial distance from the exit by around 15 percent. Spray merging increased the air flow turbulence and the local mass fraction distribution of the air in the region between the nozzle axes by around 50 and 40 percent respectively relative to the single sprays, resulting in a fuel rich region with increased gas flow turbulence which may influence the ignition process in the preburner of the space shuttle main engine.

The article presents methods for determining the main parameters of a rotating atomizer sprayer. The choice of research methodology is justified based on the general pattern of liquid atomization by rotating atomizers, taking into account the influence of the air flow on them. The main indicators affecting the sprayed drops' dispersal are the air flow rate and the rotational speed of the pneumatic disk atomizer. Therefore, the correct choice of the method for determining the rotational speed ω of a pneumatic disk atomizer makes it possible, at a constant air flow rate, to obtain the required median-mass diameter of the atomized droplets. To obtain a high-quality air-droplet flow, there must be a combination between the initial speed of the main drops discharged from the spray disk's periphery and the fan installation's air flow speed.

Initial drop size and velocity distributions, after complete disintegration of coaxial liquid jets, were determined by phase Doppler measurements. The measured radial distributions of Sauter mean diameter (SMD) were compared with the photographs of the disintegrating liquid jet. The SMD distribution was found to be strongly affected by the structure and behavior of the preceding liquid intact jet. The results showed that SMD increases with increasing liquid supply pressure as well as with decreasing air supply pressure. The axial measurement stations were determined from the photographs of the coaxial liquid jet at very short distances (1–2 mm) downstream of the observed break-up locations. The droplets accelerated at these regions under the influence of the air velocity. Smaller droplets were found to reach higher velocities because of their larger drag-to-momentum ratio. In general, minimum droplet mean velocities were found at the center, and the maximum velocities were near the spray boundary. Size velocity correlations show that the velocity of larger drops did not change with drop size. Drop rms velocity distributions have double peaks whose radial positions coincide with the maximum mean velocity gradients.

Mass flow scaling of gas-assisted coaxial atomizers from laboratory to industrial scale is of major interest for a wide field of applications. However, there is only scarce knowledge and research concerning the effect of atomizer scale-up on liquid breakup and spray characteristics. The main objective of this study is therefore to derive basic principles for liquid jet breakup using upscaled nozzles to increase the liquid mass flow rate [Formula: see text]. For that purpose, atomizers with the same geometrical setup but increased sizes have been designed and experimentally investigated for [Formula: see text], 50, 100, and 500 kg/h, while the aerodynamic Weber number Weaero and gas-to-liquid ratio GLR have been kept constant. The primary jet breakup was recorded via high-speed imaging, and the liquid core length LC and the frequency of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability fK were extracted. Applying these results as reference data, highly resolved numerical simulations have been performed to gain a deeper understanding of the effect of mass flow scaling. In the case of keeping Weaero and GLR constant, it has been shown by both experiments and simulations that the breakup morphology, given by a pulsating liquid jet with the disintegration of fiber-type liquid fragments, remains almost unchanged with the degree of upscaling n. However, the normalized breakup length [Formula: see text] has been found to be considerably increased with increasing n. The reason has been shown to be the decreased gas flow velocity vgas at the nozzle exit with n, which leads to a decreased gas-to-liquid momentum flux ratio j and an attenuated momentum exchange between the phases. Accordingly, the calculated turbulence kinetic energy of the gas flow and the specific kinetic energy in the liquid phase decrease with n. This corresponds to a decreased fKHI with n or [Formula: see text], respectively, which has been confirmed by both experiments and simulations. The same behavior has been shown for two liquids with different viscosities and at different Weaero. The obtained results allow a first-order estimate of the liquid breakup characteristics, where the influence of nozzle upscaling can be incorporated into j and Reliq in terms of n.