Atomization Performance of a Simplex Spray through X-ray Scattering Tomography

Ultra-small-angle X-ray Scattering (USAXS) has been used previously to measure the atomization behavior in the liquid dense regions of various spraying systems, through collection of projection information. Here, similar projections of x-ray scattering measurements have been collected for the spray from a reference simplex atomizer and processed into line-of-sight surface area measurements. Additionally, these x-ray scattering measurements have been collected for a multitude of angular perspectives of the same spray, and computed tomography (CT) processing applied to derive the surface area per unit volume. The standardized simplex atomizer spray allows agreeable comparison to prior studies, specifically phase Doppler interferometry, where the measurements are volumetric. X-ray transmission was also measured for these multiple perspectives near-simultaneously, for matched conditions and spatial registration, and through CT reconstruction, resulted in liquid volume distribution. Combined liquid volume and USAXS-derived surface area provided planar mappings of Sauter mean diameter, which is comparable to PDI measurements. Through the use of a reference simplex injector, this effort continues, and improves upon the library of studies and comparisons that are made between different diagnostic methods.