APPLICATION NOTE

Spray dynamics of aero engine

fuel injectors

Introduction
The optimization of aircraft engines' efficiency and emissions has led to staged
combustors. To develop fuel nozzles that satisfy the requirements of staged
combustion, it is necessary to obtain detailed and reliable information about the fuel
distribution and homogeneity in the combustor primary zone. A detailed and
systematic investigation of fuel nozzles under real engine conditions involves high
costs and diagnostic risks.

The need to reduce development costs leads to simplified test procedures wherever
possible. In the case of the cold-fuel spray, expensive high-pressure tests can, to a
certain extent, be avoided. A successful investigation of the spray dynamics of fuel
injectors for aero engines under simulated pressure conditions is described below.

The experimental setup

Optical configuration

The measured mass flux distribution, as the primary measured quantity to judge the
fuel homogeneity in the spray, is very sensitive to erroneous size measurements of
large droplets because of the third power dependency of the droplet diameter. On the
other hand, a small measurement volume is necessary to avoid the presence of more
than one particle in the measuring volume at a time. A small measuring volume,
however, increases the probability of erroneous measurements due to Gaussian beam
effects.

The measurements were therefore performed with a three-component DualPDA. The

optical configuration of the system is given in Table 1.

Table 1
Laser power: 1.5 W Ar-ion

85 mm FiberFlow (2D)
Transmitting optics:
60 mm FiberFlow (1D)

Receiving optics: 3D DualPDA

Transmitting: 310 mm
Focal lengths:
Receiving: 310 mm

Scattering angle: 40°

Polarization: Parallel

Table 1: Optical configuration

Spray facility

A prefilming air-blast swirl atomizer designed and built by DLR, equipped with an inner
axial swirler and an outer radial swirler, was used. The atomizer was placed in a
tubular confinement to achieve the necessary flowfield similarity to the atomizer
nearfield of a combustor primary zone. Kerosene was used as the atomizing liquid in
all measurements.

Traverse system

The optical transmitting and receiving probes of the DualPDA system were mounted
on a stable traverse system, which allowed the measuring point to be placed virtually
anywhere in the spray cone.

Pressure and temperature

All measurements were performed under atmospheric pressure and at ambient

temperature. To simulate the pressure conditions in a real engine, i.e. to achieve a high
spray density, the pressure drop across the atomizer was increased and the air fuel
ratio was reduced.

Results
The measured Sauter mean diameters (SMD) and the axial mass flux for both test
cases (atmospheric and simulated pressure) are shown in figures 1 and 2. The strong
radial separation of the droplets caused by the particle inertia under simulated
pressure can be seen clearly. For a detailed discussion of the fluid dynamic effects see:
Behrendt, Hassa, "Investigation of the spray dynamics of aero engine fuel injectors
under atmospheric and simulated pressure conditions", AGARD-CP-598, Paper 5,
presented at AGARD PEP Symposium, October 1997, in Brussels.

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Figure 1: Sauter mean diameter (left) and axial mass flux (right) for atmospheric condition

Figure 2: Sauter mean diameter (left) and axial mass flux (right) for simulated pressure condition

Conclusion
A 3D DualPDA system was successfully used for the detailed investigation of the very
complex flow in the nearfield of an air-blast atomizer, under both atmospheric
conditions and simulated pressure conditions where a very dense spray was present.

Acknowledgements
The measurements were performed by Dipl.-Ing. Th. Behrendt at the Institute for
Propulsion Technology, DLR Cologne, Germany. http://www.kp.dlr.de

References
Behrendt, Hassa, "Investigation of the spray dynamics of aero engine fuel injectors
under atmospheric and simulated pressure conditions", AGARD-CP-598, Paper 5,
presented at AGARD PEP Symposium, October 1997, in Brussels.

Application note_0674_v1. Subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2019. Dantec Dynamics.
All Rights Reserved. www.dantecdynamics.com

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