Abstract
Understanding of the spray processes occurring in practical aeroengine fuel injection systems has been extremely limited, due to not only the multiphysics multiscale nature of the problem but also the complex injector geometries and the challenges in experimental measurements, especially under the high temperature-pressure combustor environment. Recent advances in numerical methods and increases in computational power have enabled the first-principles high-fidelity simulation of such processes to achieve a comprehensive physics-based understanding. In the past, we have conducted a detailed simulation of a high-shear nozzle/swirler injector at ambient conditions and validated the results against experimental measurements. Numerical algorithms to handle liquid evaporation at elevated temperature have been developed. In this work, we extend the same computational approach to study the impact of operating conditions on the spray physics in such a complex device. The previously validated ambient condition case was used as the baseline for comparison with other cases with higher temperature, pressure, and liquid fuel flow rate. The high-fuel-loading cases are compared with low-fuel-loading ones to help with understanding the impact of filming on injector performance. The spray details regarding jet trajectory, atomization degree, film thickness, and jet-to-film volume flux ratio were analyzed under ambient as well as elevated conditions. It was observed that a high temperature/pressure condition significantly modifies the near-field liquid spray inside the swirler. The condition-induced changes also depend on the dominant liquid atomization mechanisms (jet-in-swirling-flow atomization or film-edge breakup).
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call