Study of liquid hydrocarbons atomization by supersonic air or steam jet

In this work, the gas-drop two-phase flow characteristics in a perspective atomizing burner were measured with respect to operating conditions. The liquid fuel (diesel fuel and waste engine oil) was sprayed by a superheated steam or air jet. Data on the main parameters of such a gas-fuel jet (dispersed composition, carrier and dispersed phase velocity, jet opening angle) were obtained for various operating conditions (steam/air and fuel temperatures and flow rates) using modern optical flow diagnostics methods (SP, IPI, PIV, PTV). The flow structure, characteristic of a supersonic submerged jet with an opening angle of 20°, was registered near the nozzle. Characteristic diameter of the identified drops in all investigated modes is 10–20 µm, which is sufficient for efficient fuel combustion that proves the advantages of the investigated method of liquid fuel atomization. It has been established that operating conditions (such as gas or fuel temperature and fuel rates, ratio of flow rates) in the studied range slightly affects the change in the droplet size distribution. The research results showed that the size distribution of fuel droplets depends weakly on the choice of atomizing phase (steam or air).