Atomization of Gel Fuels with Solid Particle Addition Utilizing an Air Atomizing Nozzle

Microscopic high-speed imaging is used to experimentally measure the velocity and size of droplets of gelled RP-1 based fuels with a solid particle additive. The gels are atomized using an air atomizing nozzle. The droplet diameter and velocity at a fixed position 20 cm from the nozzle on the centerline of the spray are measured at air mass flow rates of 1.5, 3 and 5 g/s. A parametric study is conducted to study the effect of gas mass flow rate, boron particle content, and species of the solid particle on the droplet characteristics. The results indicate that the droplet size decreases with the increasing of gas mass flow rate and boron particle content. Gel fuels with an aluminum particle are observed to produce smaller droplets at a low gas mass flow rate than that with a boron particle. The implication of these observations is that the atomization processes for gelled fuels with an additive of solid particles is controlled by the velocity difference between the gas and the droplets.