Swirl Coaxial Injector Development. Part I: Test Results

Sierra Engineering, in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate, has undertaken a program to develop a gas-centered, swirl coaxial injector. This injector design will be used in the multi-element Advanced Fuels Tester (AFT) engine to test a variety of hydrocarbon propellants. As part of this program, a design methodology is being developed which will be applicable to future injector design efforts. The methodology combines cold flow data, acquired in the AFRL High Pressure Injector Flow facility, uni-element hot fire data, collected in AFRL Test Cell EC-1, and a computational effort conducted at University of Alabama-Birmingham, to identify key design features and sensitivities. Results from the computational effort will be presented in the Part II companion paper (9). Three different gas-centered swirl coaxial element concepts were studied: a converging design, a diverging design, and a pre-filming design. The cold flow experiments demonstrated that all three classes of elements produced an extremely dense, solid cone spray, with the highest mass density in the center. The atomization of all of these injectors was excellent, producing mean drop sizes 1/3 to 1/4 of that typically measured for shear coaxial elements operating under similar conditions. Uni-element hot fire testing of these elements has begun, but the elements have not yet been tested at the design operating conditions. Preliminary low chamber pressure test results show the converging design performs better than the pre-filming and diverging design. Uni-element C* efficiencies in excess of 90% have been measured over a wide-range of mixture ratios. Prepared in collaboration with Sierra Engineering, Inc., Carson City, NV.