An Experimental Study of Kerosene Combustion in a Supersonic Model Combustor Using Effervescent Atomization

Authors: G. Yu, J. G. Li, J. R. Zhao, L. J. Yue, X. Y. Chang, and C. J. Sung

Direct link to the paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2004.07.050

Abstract:

Investigation of kerosenecombustion in a Mach 2.5 flow was carried out using amodelsupersoniccombustor with cross-section area of 51 mm × 70 mm and different integrated fuel injector/flameholder cavity modules. Experiments with pure liquid atomization and with effervescentatomization were characterized and compared. Direct photography, Schlieren imaging, and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH radical were utilized to examine the cavity characteristics and spray structure. Schlieren images illustrate the effectiveness of gas barbotage in facilitating atomization and the importance of secondary atomization when kerosene sprays interacting with asupersonic crossflow. OH PLIF images further substantiate our previous finding that there exists a local high-temperature radical pool within the cavity flameholder, and this radical pool plays a crucial role in promoting kerosenecombustion in asupersoniccombustor. Under the same operation conditions, comparison of the measured static pressure distributions along the combustor also shows that effervescentatomization generally leads to better combustion performance than the use of pure liquid atomization. Furthermore, the present results demonstrate that the cavity characteristics can be different in non-reacting and reacting supersonic flows. As such, the conventional definition of cavity characteristics based on non-reacting flows needs to be revised.

Citation: G. Yu, J. G. Li, J. R. Zhao, L. J. Yue, X. Y. Chang, and C. J. Sung, “An Experimental Study of Kerosene Combustion in a Supersonic Model Combustor Using Effervescent Atomization,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 30, 2859-2866 (2005).