Pressure-swirl atomization: Modeling and experimental approaches

An Eulerian model is developed to model liquid sheet atomization with high Weber and Reynolds numbers. The model considers a single phase of liquid–gas mixture to represent the turbulent mixing of the liquid sheet with the ambient gas. As the flow is highly swirled and highly anisotropic, the Reynolds stress model is used for turbulence. The turbulent flux of liquid mass fraction is modeled taking into account density variation effect. The mean liquid–gas interface density balance equation is solved to get the Sauter Mean Diameter of droplets. 2-D axisymmetric swirl calculations have been performed using 3-D results as boundary conditions in order to reduce the computational time. Experimental data are obtained using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA). Atomization characteristics such as the axial velocity and droplet Sauter Mean Diameter were determined experimentally and were compared with the modeling results. Agreement between predictions and measurements is reasonably good.