Terrel E. Kuhn

Investigation of Atomization Models for Pressure Swirl Atomizers

Simulations of gas turbine combustors are sensitive to fuel boundary conditions and therefore accurate predictions of combustor performance rely on successful modeling of the fuel spray. Atomization models for a realistic, pressure swirl atomizer used in an aircraft gas turbine combustor are investigated to correctly predict the atomizer’s performance. A complex interaction exists between the fuel spray and surrounding air used to promote atomization. WAVE and stochastic secondary breakup models are used to model this interaction. Experimental characterization of this atomizer has been previously performed and the results of this experiment were used to evaluate numerical simulations. Qualitative comparisons of the simulation and experimental results show the stochastic breakup model correctly predicts the spatial distributions of fuel velocity and drop size.