EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF LIQUID FUEL ATOMIZATION BEHIND SHOCK WAVE

The present work deals with the investigation of the atomization quality of n-hexane, commercial gasolene, aviation kerosene and 1,2-epoxy propane fuels. A multi-purpose shock tube fitted with two optically flat quartz windows and equipped with laser Droplet Sizer, high speed camera, piezo-transducer and data acquisition system is used to measure the droplet size and velocity. Canisters with various length/diameter and fitted with detonators with various energies are used to atomize liquid fuels. The effect of these factors on the atomization quality is investigated. It is found that the atomization quality-expressed by size distribution and mean diameter-is improved by increasing the atomization energy decreasing the fuel quantity and using canisters of L / D = 1.25 to 1.75. Non-dimensional correlations for each fuel are derived:
D₃₂/L =A [RE]^p [WE]^q [EU]^r [L/D]^t [m_f/p_fL³]^y
Mass of high explosive needed to destroy canister and generates an aerosol cloud of D₃₂ < 50 µm, is found to be (1.3 to 1.5)% of the atomized fuel mass for the tested fuels including the percentage that needed to destroy the canister wall ( 0,04 to 0,05)% .It is found also, that the aviation kerosene of higher viscosity and surface tension had less atomization quality compared to n-hexane and gasolene.