Axial and Radial Variation of Spray Characteristics of a Small-Scale Simplex Atomizer

Simplex atomizer is widely used in the liquid fuel combustion devices in aerospace and power generation industries. An experimental work was conducted, to study variation of SMD and droplet size distribution along axial and radial directions of the spray for different injection pressures. Malvern spray analyzer is used in the present investigation. Four different atomizer configurations of increasing atomizer constant (K) are examined using water and kerosene. Spray cone angle is measured for different configurations at different injection pressures (up to 30 bar) using image processing technique. In the case of atomizer with lower K, spray cone angle continuously increases with injection pressure. In the case of atomizer with higher K, initially spray cone angle increases significantly, but remains almost constant after 16 bar. Variation of SMD and droplet size distribution along axial direction of the spray is compared between water and kerosene spray. SMD variation along the axial direction of spray clearly shows the continuous brakup of droplets along axial direction of the spray. In the case of water spray, SMD rapidly decreases along the axial direction up to 30 mm from the orifice exit, and gradually decreases up to 120 mm. In the case of kerosene spray, SMD rapidly decreases along the axial direction up to 40 mm from the orifice exit, after that SMD fluctuates along the axial direction up to 100 mm from the orifice exit. This fluctuation is due to evaporation of smaller droplets (50 microns) of kerosene. Span also continuously fluctuates after 40 mm from the orifice exit in the case of kerosene spray. Variation of SMD and droplet size distribution along radial direction of the spray is compared for different injection pressure and configurations of simplex atomizer. Increase in injection pressure, increases the disruptive aerodynamic force, which reduces the radial peak value of SMD and widens the radial profile. With decrease in atomizer constant (K), swirl strength inside the swirl chamber increases, which in turn increases the spray cone angle. SMD variation along the radial direction of spray showed more uniform droplet diameter distribution for lower atomizer constant (K) configurations. Reducing the atomizer constant improves the atomization quality more effectively than increasing the injection pressure.