Regimes of spray formation in gas-centered swirl coaxial atomizers

Spray formation in ambient atmosphere from gas-centered swirl coaxial atomizers is described by carrying out experiments in a spray test facility. The atomizer discharges a circular air jet and an axisymmetric swirling water sheet from its coaxially arranged inner and outer orifices. A high-speed digital imaging system along with a backlight illumination arrangement is employed to record the details of liquid sheet breakup and spray development. Spray regimes exhibiting different sheet breakup mechanisms are identified and their characteristic features presented. The identified spray regimes are wave-assisted sheet breakup, perforated sheet breakup, segmented sheet breakup, and pulsation spray regime. In the regime of wave-assisted sheet breakup, the sheet breakup shows features similar to the breakup of two-dimensional planar air-blasted liquid sheets. At high air-to-liquid momentum ratios, the interaction process between the axisymmetric swirling liquid sheet and the circular air jet develops spray processes which are more specific to the atomizer studied here. The spray exhibits a periodic ejection of liquid masses whose features are dominantly controlled by the central air jet.     

圆环旋转黏性液体射流空间不稳定性研究

利用线性稳定性理论, 进行了液体黏性对不同旋转强度下圆环旋转液体射流 空间不稳定性影响的研究. 在推导出的三维扰动下具有固体涡核型旋转速度分布的圆环旋转 黏性液体射流色散方程的基础上, 针对中低速射流, 进行了类反对称模式与类对称模式下圆 环旋转黏性液体射流的空间不稳定性分析. 研究结果表明, 对于旋转强度较大的圆环旋转液 体射流, 液体黏性的增加, 不利于射流的破碎; 随着液体黏性的增加, 射流的特征频率和最 不稳定波数减小. 然而, 对于旋转强度较小的圆环旋转液体射流, 液体黏性的增加, 有利于 射流的破碎; 随着液体黏性的增加, 类反对称模式下射流特征频率先减小后增大, 类对称模 式下射流特征频率增大; 随着液体黏性的增加, 类反对称模式下射流最不稳定波数先减小后 增大, 类对称模式下射流最不稳定波数增大.     

An experimental study of the under-expanded swirling jet with secondary coaxial stream

The present study addresses experimental results for investigating the details of the near field flow characteristics produced in an under-expanded, dual, coaxial, swirling jet. The under-expanded swirling jet is discharged from a sonic inner nozzle. An outer annular nozzle produces co- and counter-swirling streams relative to the inner primary swirling jet. The interaction between both the outer annular swirling stream and inner under-expanded swirling jet is quantified by impact and static pressure measurements, and visualized by using the shadowgraph method. Experiments are performed for several different pressure ratios. The results show that the outer secondary co-swirling jet significantly changes the structure of the inner under-expanded swirling jet, such as the shock structures and the recirculation region generated at the jet axis. The effect of the outer secondary stream on the major structures of the inner primary swirling jet is strongly dependent on the pressure ratio of the inner swirling jet, regardless of the swirl direction of the outer stream.Received: 17 May 2004, Accepted: 27 September 2004, Published online: 26 November 2004[/PUBLISHED]H.D. Kim: Correspondence to     

Temporal analysis of breakup for a power law liquid jet in a swirling gas

The breakup mechanism and instability of a power law liquid jet are investigated in this study. The power law model is used to account for the non-Newtonian behavior of the liquid fluid. A new theoretical model is established to explain the breakup of a power law liquid jet with axisymmetric and asymmetric disturbances, which moves in a swirling gas. The corresponding dispersion relation is derived by a linear approximation, and it is applicable for both shear-thinning and shear-thickening liquid jets. Analysis results are calculated based on the temporal mode. The analysis includes the effects of the generalized Reynolds number, the Weber number, the power law exponent, and the air swirl strength on the breakup of the jet. Results show that the shear-thickening liquid jet is more unstable than its Newtonian and shear-thinning counterparts when the effect of the air swirl is taken into account. The axisymmetric mode can be the dominant mode on the power law jet breakup when the air swirl strength is strong enough, while the non-axisymmetric mode is the domination on the instability of the power liquid jet with a high We and a low Re _n . It is also found that the air swirl is a stabilizing factor on the breakup of the power law liquid jet. Furthermore, the instability characteristics are different for different power law exponents. The amplitude of the power law liquid jet surface on the temporal mode is also discussed under different air swirl strengths.     

气流作用下同轴带电射流的不稳定性研究

通过对气体驱动同轴电流动聚焦的实验模型进行简化,开展了电场力和惯性力共同作用下同轴带电射流的不稳定性理论研究.在流动为无黏、不可压缩、无旋的假设下,建立了三层流体带电射流物理模型并得到了扰动在时间域内发展演化的解析形式色散关系,利用正则模方法求解色散方程发现了流动的不稳定模态,进而分析了主要控制参数对不稳定模态的影响.结果表明,在参考状态下轴对称模态的最不稳定增长率最大,因此轴对称扰动控制整个流场.外层气流速度越高,气体惯性力越大,射流的界面越容易失稳.内外层液-液同轴射流之间的速度差越大,射流越不稳定.表面张力对射流不稳定性起到促进作用.轴向电场对射流不稳定性具有双重影响:当加载电场强度较小时,射流不稳定性被抑制;当施加电压大于某一临界值时,轴向电场会促进射流失稳.临界电压的大小与界面上自由电荷密度和射流表面扰动发展关系密切.这些结果与已有的实验现象吻合,能够对实验的过程控制提供理论指导.     

Experiments on dynamic behavior of near-field region in variable property jet with swirling flow

The dynamic behavior of the near-field region in a coaxial variable property jet has been experimentally investigated under a swirling flow produced by rotating cylindrical inner and outer tubes, focusing on how the swirl of the outer jet affects the formation of a stagnation point in the swirling inner jet. The inner and outer jets rotate in the same direction. Air, CO₂, or He is issued from the inner tube as a variable property jet, and air is issued from the outer tube in this work. In the case of a CO₂ jet (a high-density, low-viscosity gas jet), a stagnation point flow is more easily formed than in the case of an air jet, and the stagnation point location is significantly lower than in that of the air jet. When the swirl of the outer jet is introduced, a stagnation point flow is more easily formed than in the case of a nonswirling outer jet, and the stagnation point location is much lower than in the case of a nonswirling outer jet. In the case of a He jet (a low-density and high-viscosity gas jet), the inner jet does not have a stagnation point flow, and its overall behavior remains nearly unchanged even under high swirl numbers of the inner and outer jets. These results clearly show that the density and viscosity differences between the inner and outer jets have a significant impact on the dynamic behavior of the near-field region in the coaxial swirling jet. The significant lowering of the stagnation point location can be physically explained by considering the theoretical equation obtained in this work.     

圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度数量密度分布相关性研究

压力旋流喷嘴被广泛应用于航空发动机、船用发动机、车用汽油缸内直喷发动机、燃气轮机等动力机械的燃油喷射系统中.以压力旋流喷嘴射流为研究对象,开展了圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度数量密度分布相关性问题研究.对于液体射流,以往的研究往往对破碎液滴粒径数量密度分布或速度数量密度分布进行单独研究,对于这两种数量密度分布之间关系的研究较少;从相关性的角度对圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度数量密度分布之间的关系进行研究.采用最大熵原理方法建立了圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度联合概率密度函数.对圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度联合概率密度函数进行了讨论,对圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径数量密度分布与速度数量密度分布的相关性问题进行了研究.研究结果表明,为了给出正确的圆环旋转黏性液体射流破碎液滴粒径与速度联合概率密度函数,射流守恒约束条件中必须同时包括质量守恒定律、动量守恒定律以及能量守恒定律;破碎液滴粒径的数量密度分布与速度数量密度分布密切相关;射流旋转强度对破碎液滴粒径数量密度与速度数量密度分布结构影响不大,对破碎液滴粒径数量密度和速度数量密度的分布区域影响较大.      

Influences of the wall thickness on the granular dispersion in a dense gas–solid coaxial jet

The granular dispersion for different wall thicknesses of the inner channel in a dense gas–solid coaxial jet is investigated by morphology. In the wave dispersion, the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability has a strong influence on the granular stream. However, increasing the wall thickness damps the K–H instability, namely weakens the wave dispersion. Consequently, the non-dimensional wavelength increases and the non-dimensional amplitude decreases as the wall thickness increases for the same annular gas velocity. The instability analysis combining with the modification of the vorticity thickness of the annular gas stream indicates that the non-dimensional wavelength increases linearly with the non-dimensional modified vorticity thickness. The relation between the amplitude of the granular dispersion and the non-dimensional modified vorticity thickness is reliable for the wave dispersion as well. In addition, the granular dispersion angle is proportional to the annular gas velocity, which slightly depends on the wall thickness.     

圆环旋转粘性液膜射流三维不稳定性研究

利用线性稳定性理论进行了射流液体粘性对圆环旋转液膜射流稳定性影响的研究,推导出了三维扰动下具有固体旋涡型速度分布的圆环旋转粘性液膜射流的色散方程;在此基础上进行了类反对称模式与类对称模式下的圆环旋转粘性液膜射流的三维不稳定性分析。研究结果表明,在类反对称模式下,液体粘性超过一定值后,射流最大扰动增长率随液体粘性的增加而迅速减小;轴对称模态的射流特征频率产生一个突降变化;随液体粘性增加,轴对称模态不稳定波数范围减小,非轴对称模态不稳定波数范围呈现出先减小后增大趋势。在类对称模式下,液体粘性对射流最大扰动增长率的影响主要体现在对非轴对称模态的影响上;液体粘性只在粘性较大时才会对非轴对称模态射流特征频率产生一定影响;液体粘性超过一定值后,轴对称模态与非轴对称模态的不稳定波数范围都会快速下降。     

Shock–Free Breakup of Droplets. Temporal Characteristics

In the present paper, we consider the shock–free breakup of droplets in their encounter with a layer (sheet) of a moving gas in the absence of pressure perturbations when the droplets are affected by a short U–shaped pulse of aerodynamic forces. Under a high pressure of the ambient gas medium p₀ = 20—80 bar, the droplets (ethanol or liquid oxygen) have a chance to break up after stay in a thing (2—5 mm thick) gas layer (jet) moving with a velocity of 1—10 m/sec. A distinctive feature of the process is that the characteristic time of droplet deformation and the period of natural oscillations coincide with the residence time for the droplets in the region of their interaction with the gas stream. Empirical formulas are proposed for determination of the total breakup time and the duration of the droplet disintegration stage in shock–free breakup.     

不同参数下环形通道内湍流旋流流动的模拟

应用一种合理考虑湍流一旋流相互作用及湍流脉动各向异性的新的代数ＲｅｙｎｏｌｄＳ应力模型,对环形通道内的湍流旋流流动进行了数值模拟．研究了旋流数、进口轴向速度和内外半径比等参数对环形通道内湍流旋流流动的影响,以及由此产生的流场变化对强化环形通道内传热的作用．     

Active Control of Swirling Coaxial Jet Mixing with Manipulation of Large-Scale Vortical Structures

Large-scale vortical structures and associated mixing in methane/air swirling coaxial jets are actively controlled by manipulating the outer shear layer of the outer swirling coaxial jet with miniature flap actuators. In order to investigate the control mechanisms, stereoscopic particle image verocimetry (stereo-PIV) and plannar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) techniques are employed. It is found that intense vortex rings are produced in the outer shear layer in phase with the periodic flap motion regardless of the swirl number examined. The vortical structures in the inner shear layer, however, are strongly dependent on the swirl rate. This is because the central methane jet is accelerated by the negative axial pressure gradient, of which strength is determined by the swirl. As a result, the inner vortex formation is significantly suppressed at a higher swirl rate. On the other hand, at a relatively low swirl rate, the inner vortices are shed continuously and the methane jet is pinched off. This particular mode promotes the mixing of methane and air, so that the flammable mixture can be formed at an earlier stage of the jet flow development. In addition, the evolution of secondary streamwise vortices is prompted by the combination of the periodic vortex ring shedding and the swirl. They also contribute to the mixing enhancement in the downstream region.     

Some features of spray breakup in effervescent atomizers

The near orifice spray breakup at low GLR (gas to liquid ratio by mass) values in an effervescent atomizer is studied experimentally using water as a simulant and air as atomizing gas. From the visualizations, the near orifice spray structures are classified into three modes: discrete bubble explosions, continuous bubble explosions and annular conical spray. The breakup of the spray is quantified in terms of the mean bubble bursting distance from the orifice. The parametric study indicates that the mean bubble bursting distance mainly depends on airflow rate, jet diameter and mixture velocity. It is also observed that the jet diameter has a dominant effect on the bubble bursting distance when compared to mixture velocity at a given airflow rate. The mean bubble bursting distance is shown to be governed by a nondimensional two-phase flow number consisting of all the aforementioned parameters. The location of bubble bursting is found to be highly unsteady spatially, which is influenced by flow dynamics inside the injector. It is proposed that this unsteadiness in jet breakup length is a consequence of varying degree of bubble expansion caused due to the intermittent occurrence of single phase and two-phase flow inside the orifice.     

High-speed visualisation of primary break-up of an annular liquid sheet

In this experimental study, a thin annular moving water sheet is placed between two annular co-flowing air streams. The shear at the interface gives rise to Kelvin–Helmholtz type instabilities and promotes development of a sinuous surface wave at the gas–liquid interface. The amplitude of the surface wave is amplified as it travels downstream of the nozzle exit until it ruptures forming spanwise and streamwise ligaments. The liquid sheet is illuminated with high-powered halogen lamps. High-speed imaging is used in this study to qualitatively visualise the structure of the spray—of particular interest is the evolution of the spray into a ligament structure during the primary break-up and the role the outer air stream plays in this process. Sequences of images with high temporal resolution (∼2,000 fps) are recorded for image processing and analysis of the surface waves and ligament formation. A preliminary analysis of the waveform of the outer gas–liquid interface of the annular liquid sheet over a range of conditions shows the sheet Strouhal number to increase with increasing gas to liquid momentum ratio. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Experimental and analytical investigation of liquid sheet breakup characteristics

The main objective of this research is to study analytically and experimentally the liquid sheet breakup of a flat fan jet nozzle resulting from pressure-swirling. In this study the effects of nozzle shape and spray pressure on the liquid sheet characteristics were investigated for four nozzles with different exit widths (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mm). The length of liquid sheet breakup, liquid sheet velocity and the size of formed droplets were measured by a digital high speed camera. The breakup characteristics of plane liquid sheets in atmosphere are analytically investigated by means of linear and nonlinear hydrodynamic instability analyses. The liquid sheet breakup process was studied for initial sinuous and also varicose modes of disturbance. The results presented the effect of the nozzle width and the spray pressure on the breakup length and also on the size of the formed droplets. Comparing the experimental results with the theoretical ones for all the four types of nozzles, gives a good agreement with difference ranges from 4% to 12%. Also, the comparison between the obtained results and the results due to others shows a good agreement with difference ranged from 5% to 16%. Empirical correlations have been deduced describing the relation between the liquid sheet breakup characteristics and affecting parameters; liquid sheet Reynolds number, Weber number and the nozzle width.     

Coherent structure interactions in an unexcited coaxial jet

Based on a double triggering criterion, the axisymmetric and azimuthal structures within the initial region of an unexcited coaxial jet of mean velocity ratio of 0.3 (inner to outer) were recovered. Outer vortices, two trains of inner vortices and their amalgamation are found in the outer and inner mixing regions. Bifurcation of the amalgamated inner vortices occurs within the first two diameters of the jet and is responsible for the occurrence of the azimuthal structures in the inner jet region further downstream. Co-dominance of the symmetrical and azimuthal structures having different convection velocities is observed in the fully merged zone. Spatial separation between vortical structures and their relative vorticities are important parameters in affecting their convection velocities, growth and decay.The work was partly supported by a donation from Dr. Haking Wong and by a grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.     

Formation of radially expanding liquid sheet by impinging two round jets

A thin circular liquid sheet can be formed by impinging two identical round jets against each other. The liquid sheet expands to a certain critical radial distance and breaks. The unsteady process of the formation and breakup of the liquid sheet in the ambient gas is simulated numerically. Both liquid and gas are treated as incompressible Newtonian fluids. The flow considered is axisymmetric. The liquid-gas interface is modeled with a level set function. A finite difference scheme is used to solve the governing Navier-Stokes equations with physical boundary conditions. The numerical results show how a thin circular sheet can be formed and break at its circular edge in slow motion. The sheet continues to thin as it expands radially. Hence, the Weber number decreases radially. The Weber number is defined as ρu 2 h/σ, where ρ and σ are, respectively, the liquid density and the surface tension, and u and h are, respectively, the average velocity and the half sheet thickness at a local radial location in the liquid sheet. The numerical results show that the sheet indeed terminates at a radial location, where the Weber number reaches one as observed in experiments. The spatio-temporal linear theory predicts that the breakup is initiated by the sinuous mode at the critical Weber number We c =1, below which the absolute instability occurs. The other independent mode called the varicose mode grows more slowly than the sinuous mode according to the linear theory. However, our numerical results show that the varicose mode actually overtakes the sinuous mode during the nonlinear evolution, and is responsible for the final breakup. The linear theory predicts the nature of disturbance waves correctly only at the onset of the instability, but cannot predict the exact consequence of the instability.     

An experimental investigation of the interaction of swirl flow with partially premixed disk stabilized propane flames

The present work describes the experimental investigation of reacting wakes established through fuel injection and staged premixing with air in an axisymmetric double cavity arrangement, formed along three concentric disks, and stabilized in the downstream vortex region of the afterbody. The burner assembly is operated with a co-flow of swirling air, aerodynamically introduced upstream of the burner exit plane, to allow for the study of the interaction between the resulting partially premixed recirculating afterbody flames with the surrounding swirl. At low swirl the primary afterbody disk stabilizes the partially premixed annular jet in the downstream reacting wake formation region. As swirl increases, a system of two successive vortices emerges along the axis of the developing wake; the primary afterbody vortex is cooperating with an adjacent, swirl induced, central recirculation zone and this combination further promotes turbulent mixing in the hot wake.Complementary measurements of the counterpart isothermal turbulent velocity fields provided important information on the near wake aerodynamics under the interaction of the variable swirl and the double cavity produced annular jet stabilized by the afterbody. Under reacting conditions, measurements of turbulent velocities, temperatures and statistics together with an evaluation of the exhaust emissions were performed using LDV, thin digitally-compensated thermocouples and gas analyzers. A selected number of lean and ultra-lean flames were investigated by regulating the injected fuel and the air supply ratio, while the influence of the variation of the imposed swirl on wake development, flame characteristics and emission performance was documented for constant fuel injections. The differences and similarities between the present partially premixed stabilizer and other types of axisymmetric configurations are also highlighted and discussed.     

The breakup and atomization of a viscous liquid jet

Based on the linear analysis of stability, a dispersion equation is deduced which delineates the evolution of a general 3-dimensional disturbance on the free surface of an incompressible viscous liquid jet. With respect to the spatial growing disturbance mode, the numerical results obtained from the solution of the dispersion equation reveal that a dimensionless parameterJ _e exists. AsJ _e>1, the axisymmetric disturbance mode is most unstable; and whenJ _e<1, the asymmetric disturbances come into being, their growth rate increases with the decrease, ofJ _e, till one of them becomes the most unstable disturbance. The breakup of a low-speed liquid jet results from the developing of axisymmetric disturbances, whose instability is produced by the surface tension; while the atomization of a high-speed liquid jet is brought about by the evolution of nonaxisymmetric disturbance, whose instability is caused by the aerodynamic force on the interface between the jet and the ambient gas. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

旋流喷嘴中空旋转射流近区域流动的研究

从理论上分析了旋流喷嘴喷出的中空射流近区域的液膜的运动,在只考虑液膜表面张力的作用下,应用质量守恒和动量定理,建立了描述液膜运动的非线性常微分（积分）方程组,该方程组可以用数值方法方便地求解,结果表明,液体离开旋流喷嘴后在自由空间形成的液膜呈葫芦形状,其速度和液膜厚度等都周期性地变化。本结果是在液厝受拓动失称碎成液滴前的最基本运动状态,可以在射流的近区域内实验观察到,也是进一步从理论液膜破碎雾化过