Liquid Jet in Crossflow: Effect of Momentum Flux Ratio on Spray and Vaporization Characteristics

Abstract

Abstract A comprehensive study is conducted to identify the effects of momentum flux ratio on the spray and vaporization characteristics of liquid jet injected in air crossflow at elevated temperatures, a configuration relevant to high-speed propulsion systems, such as ramjets and afterburners. The physical setup consists of a straight chamber with a triangular bluff body down-stream of the liquid injection location. The numerical simulations are based on an Eulerian-Lagrangian framework, where the gas phase flow behaviors such as recirculation zones, turbulence statistics, mixing of vaporized liquid and gas streams are resolved by solving the complete set of three-dimensional conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy and species, and the liquid phase is treated using the blob approach and tracked in a Lagrangian coordinate system. Turbulence closure is achieved using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique. Primary breakup of the liquid jet is simulated using the K-H wave breakup model, and the Taylor Analogy Breakup (TAB) model is used for secondary breakup. Two-way coupling between the liquid and gas phases is implemented in the LES framework to systematically model the exchange of mass, momentum and energy between the two phases. The formulation is validated against experimental measurements of liquid jet penetration and sauter mean diameter for a Weber number of 68 and momentum flux ratio of 9 at two temperatures, 298K and 573K. Results show excellent agreement with measurements for both cases. Next, simulations are conducted for a range of momentum flux ratios from 10–140 to identify the detailed gas and spray fields for vaporizing flow cases. This study helps to estimate the penetration of the liquid jet, droplet distribution, and then, location of the core of evaporated liquid in the gas-phase are quantitatively identified.