SPRAY OF POWER-LAW FLUID FROM A SWIRL INJECTOR WITH NONTANGENTIAL INLET CHANNELS

The spray formation of power-law non-Newtonian liquids from swirl injectors with nontangential inlet channels was described by carrying out experiments in a spray test facility and compared with the spray behavior from common swirl injectors. The most evident difference between the two types of injectors is that the spray cone pulsated for the swirl injectors with nontangential inlets. The pulsation is caused by the compressible air remaining in the swirl chamber, which can reduce the sheet breakup length under high pressure drop. The nontangential entry of liquids into the swirl chamber eventually reduces the fluid swirl radius, and the equivalent geometric characteristics constant decreases. As a result, the spray angle would decrease, and the mass flow rate would increase.