Primary atomization of liquid-fuel jets in confined turbulent pipe-flows of air at elevated temperatures

The primary atomization of evaporating laminar liquid jets of either pure n-pentane or n-heptane injected continuously from a circular nozzle concentrically and axisymmetrically into high-temperature turbulent coflows of air in confined a pipe has been studied experimentally. Fuel-jet bulk velocities up to 2.7 m/s, air coflow bulk velocities up to 37 m/s and temperatures up to 1150 K were investigated within a 25 mm round pipe. In the near-field region of the injector nozzle, liquid fuel jets were formed whose length increased with the fuel injection velocity and decreased with the air velocity. Smaller droplets were formed at both higher fuel and air velocities. Droplet diameters within the range from 200 to 900 µm were measured, indicating the polydispersed nature of the fuel spray. The mean droplet diameter increased non-monotonically with increasing axial distance from the nozzle due to a complex competition between droplet coalescence and evaporation. No significant effect of the air inlet temperature was observed within the investigated range of conditions on the jet length and droplet size. However, smaller droplets were obtained in flows with lower turbulence intensities and longer longitudinal integral lengthscales. Analysis of the data reveals that the mean droplet diameters can be predicted by the empirical expression (dmean/djet) = 34 × 103 We∆1.29 Re∆-3, independent of the two perforated plates selected and used in the present work. The resulting data can contribute towards a better understanding of interfacial dynamics, and the development and validation of advanced multiphase-flow and reacting-flow models.