Viscous flow in a swirl atomizer

The Two-Phase Conical Swirl Atomizers: Spray Characteristics

This paper presents the results of experimental studies on two-phase conical swirl atomizers. The impact of various atomizer geometries and different operational parameters of the atomization process on the spray characteristics was investigated. The influence of the mixing chamber height HS to diameter DS ratio and the volumetric flow rates of liquid and gas on the discharge coefficient values, spray angle, droplet size expressed by Sauter mean diameter D32, volumetric and radial distributions of droplet diameters in the spray stream were determined. The analysis of results showed that the discharge coefficient values depend on the Reynolds number for liquid and gas and the atomizer geometry. The spray angle increases as the flow rate of liquid and gas increases depending on the applied atomizer construction. The Sauter mean diameter value is correlated with the geometric dimensions of the atomizer swirl chamber. The rapid increase in D32 occurs after exceeding the value HS/DS ≈ 3. The Sauter mean diameter also depends on the operating parameters. A central area of stream is filled with smaller sized droplets as the gas flow rate increases.