The correlation of drop-size distributions in fuel nozzle sprays. I - The drop-size/volume-fraction distribution

The paper presents data on the drop-size/volume-fraction distributions of sprays observed with a large number of gas-turbine fuel nozzles of different types including both pressure and air-atomizers, using a range of fuel viscosities, at a variety of operating conditions. The data were obtained by both optical and wax-droplet methods. It is shown that a universal nondimensional correlation can be established for all the fuel nozzles when the drop-size is normalized to the mass median diameter. The correlation enables prediction of the drop-size/volume-fraction distribution for a spray given only the mass median or Sauter mean diameter.