Effects of the number of tangential passages on spray characteristics of a bipropellant atomizer

Resumo

The liquid-liquid bipropellant pressure swirl atomizers have been widely used in rocket engines to take advantage of their high mixing efficiency within the short length of the combustion chamber. In this kind of engine, the uniform mass distribution and propellant mixture ratio have great influence on combustion efficiency and instability. The present work investigates the effect of the number of tangential passages on the spray cone angle, mass distribution, and propellant mixture ratio of a bipropellant atomizer. Thus, three atomizers were designed, manufactured, and evaluated experimentally. The results showed that the number of tangential passages has some influence on the circumferential mass distribution; however, spray angle and propellant mixture ratio have not presented significant variations. © The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2013.

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