Implications of 3-D Internal Flow Simulation on the Design of Inward-Opening Pressure-Swirl Injectors

A parametric study on the effects of critical injector design parameters of inwardly-opening pressure-swirl injectors was carried out using 3-D internal flow simulations. The pressure variation and the integrated momentum flux across the injector, as well as the flow distributions and turbulence structure at the nozzle exit were analyzed. The critical flow effects on the injector design identified are the swirler efficiency, discharge coefficient, and turbulence breakup effects on the spray structure. The study shows that as a unique class of injectors, pressure-swirl injectors is complicated in fluid mechanics and not sufficiently characterized or optimized. The swirler efficiency is characterized in terms of the trade-off relationship between the swirl-to-axial momentum-flux ratio and pressure drop across the swirler. The results show that swirl number is inversely proportional to discharge coefficient, and that hole diameter and swirler height is the most dominant parameters. Experimental data are also used to correlate the analysis to injector performance. Spray cone angle and spray penetration are shown to correlate well with the swirl number. The measured dropsize also shows good correlation to the predicted turbulence primary breakup potential. The implications of nozzle flow analysis to injector design are also discussed.