Plain-jet airblast atomization of alternative liquid petroleum fuels under high ambient air pressure conditions

The effects that air and fuel properties have upon the spray mean drop size characteristics of a plain-jet airblast atomizer of the type employed in the gas turbine engine are investigated. The tests used kerosene, gas oil and a high-viscosity blend of gas oil in residual fuel oil, and covered a wide range of ambient air pressures. Laser light-scattering technique was employed for drop size measurements. It is concluded that the atomizer's measured mean drop size characteristics are only slightly different from those of the pre-filming type, especially when operating on low-viscosity kerosene under higher ambient air pressure. The beneficial effect of increased levels of ambient air pressure on mean drop size is shown to be much reduced in the case of high-viscosity fuels, thus making the attainment of good atomization performance on such fuels difficult. An expression is derived for correlating the obtained mean drop size data.