Insight into liquid jet atomization in a swirling crossflow airblast injector: Application of a multi-directional imaging technique

This paper aims to investigate the mechanism of breakup of a transversely injected liquid jet due to swirling cross-stream flow of air in a model airblast injector. The focus is especially on examining the differences in the jet atomization in the absence and presence of air swirl within the injector. Multi-directional imaging of the liquid jet core is achieved by application of the Optical Connectivity (OC) technique for simultaneous visualization of the jet core from the side- and front-view. In addition, visualization of the jet core from the bottom view is also possible. Apart from the jet penetration and breakup length (obtained from the side-view image), the present technique facilitates measurement of jet width and spread rate (from the corresponding front-view image) at the same time. The airblast injector is operated for a wide range of operating conditions. The results highlight significant influence of swirling the air flow on the jet breakup morphology as well as primary breakup parameters. The measurements provided some new insight into the physics of the primary atomization within an atomizer, where the air flow is confined, in contrast to the widely studied jet-in-crossflow in wind-tunnels. In the present case, prior to its breakup into ligaments and droplets, the liquid jet undergoes jet-to-sheet transformation. Also, the liquid sheet deflects in the direction of air swirl and disintegrates in a complex manner. The addition of swirl to the air flow leads to reduction in the mean jet breakup parameters, while the fluctuations are higher.