Flow characteristics of spray impingement in PFI injection systems

The present paper addresses an experimental study of the dynamic exchanges between the impact of an intermittent spray and the liquid film formed over the target, based on detailed phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) measurements of droplet size, velocity and volume flux in the vicinity of the impact. The flow configuration is that of a pulsed injector spraying gasoline onto a flat disc to simulate the port fuel injection (PFI) of an internal combustion engine operating at cold-start conditions. The measurements evidence that the outcome of impact cannot be accurately predicted based on the characteristics of the free spray, but requires precise knowledge of the flow structure, induced by the target. The implications for spray–wall interaction modelling are then discussed based on the application of conservation equations to the mass, momentum and energy exchanged between the impinging droplets and the liquid film. The results show that the liquid film starts to form in the vicinity of the stagnation region at early stages of injection and a non-negligible proportion of droplets impinging at outer regions splash after interaction with the film. Film disruption is mainly driven by the intermittent axial momentum of impinging droplets, which enhances the vertical oscillations. The radial momentum imparted to the liquid film at the stagnation region is fed back onto secondary droplets emerging later during the injection cycle at outwards locations, where momentum of impacting droplets is much smaller. As a consequence, although the number of splashed droplets is enhanced by normal momentum, their size and ejection velocity depends more on the radial spread induced onto the liquid film and, hence, on the radial momentum at impact. The analysis further shows that existing spray–wall interaction models can be improved if the dynamic exchanges between the impacting spray and the liquid film are accounted.     

Phase Doppler measurements of spray impact onto rigid walls

In this work, an experimental study of spray impact onto a horizontal flat and rigid surface is presented. The phase Doppler technique has been used to characterize both the impacting and the secondary spray in terms of mass and number flux, size distribution and velocities of the droplets above the target. A high-resolution CCD camera has been used to measure the average liquid film thickness formed due to spray impact, whereas a high-speed CMOS camera has been used to characterize the splashing droplets from the wall. This visualization of the splashing phenomenon and the knowledge about the liquid film thickness are used to formulate a new physical model of the crown evolution. Furthermore, information about the incident-to-ejected mass fraction and number fraction are novel contributions of this study. Considerable data are provided comparing the impact of single drops onto a liquid film to impact of drops in a spray, and the significance of the observed differences for modelling efforts is discussed. The measurements of this study are also shown to be rather sensitive to the placement of the phase Doppler measurement volume above the surface and to the operating parameters of the instrument. These effects have been documented and discussed for this particular measurement situation.     

The liquid deposition fraction of sprays impinging vertical walls and flowing films

The impingement of coarse sprays with a mean diameter in the order of millimeters on vertical walls with and without an additionally supplied wall film was studied at conditions well below the Leidenfrost limit. The fraction of the sprayed liquid deposited on the wall was determined experimentally and theoretically for various impingement angles with the help of a flat fan spray directed against the wall. The deposition fraction shows a distinct minimum in the range of intermediate impingement angles. This fact cannot be described by single-droplet-based deposition-splash criteria when considering the droplet’s impact momentum alone. The investigation demonstrates that the measurement results can be explained by including the collision of splashed droplets with incoming ones. In principle, the entrainment of the primary spray’s fine fraction in the gas flow field may also be of relevance. For the coarse and relatively sparse sprays investigated, the importance of the collisions in determining the overall balance of deposited and splashed liquid was estimated by event statistics derived from Monte Carlo simulations. The main outcome of wall interaction for the coarse spray is splashing. The splashed droplets form a secondary spray. When the impingement angle is steep, the splashed liquid is redirected towards the wall as a result of the collision between the incoming primary spray and splashed droplets.     

Comparison between laser diffraction and phase Doppler velocimeter techniques in high turbidity,small diameter sprays

The application of the laser diffraction and the phase Doppler techniques to small diameter dense sprays, such as those produced by Diesel and petrol injectors leads to differences between the measured sizes. For example, the Sauter mean diameter measured by laser diffraction was 30% smaller than the line-of-sight estimates from the phase Doppler measurements in the petrol spray and 100% smaller in the Diesel spray. The differences were due to the lack of spatial resolution of the laser diffraction technique and the influence of beam attenuation and non-spherical droplets in both instruments. Problems and sources of sizing errors in the application of both instruments are discussed.     

Experimental study of the flow regimes resulting from the impact of an intermittent gasoline spray

The present paper reports a complete set of measurements made with a two-component phase Doppler anemometer of the two-phase flow generated at the impact of a transient gasoline spray onto a flat surface. The spray is generated by a pintle injector and the fuel used was gasoline. The measurements of droplet size–velocity were processed to provide time fluxes of number, mass, normal momentum, and energy of the poly-dispersion of droplets ejected at impact, and analyzed based on predictive tools available in the literature. The results show that splash is the dominant mechanism by which secondary droplets are ejected from the surface, either in the stagnation region or in the core region of the spray. In the stagnation region, a large fraction of each incident droplet adheres to the surface and the axial incident momentum contributes with a larger parcel than tangential momentum. As a result, the normal velocity of ejected droplets is much smaller than that of the original incident droplets, while tangential velocity is enhanced. The region near the stagnation point is immediately flooded upon impact of the leading front of the spray, forming a liquid film that is forced to move radially outwards as droplets continue to impinge during the steady period. Spray/wall interaction in the core region thus occurs in the presence of a moving thin liquid film, which enhances transfer of tangential momentum. As a result, film spreading and dynamics as a result of impingement forces are crucial to accurate model spray/wall interaction. The outer region of the spray is dominated by the vortical structure induced by shear forces, which entrains small responsive secondary droplets to re-impinge. Furthermore, prediction of the outcome of spray impact requires a precise knowledge of the two-phase flow in the presence of the target.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of high pressure diesel spray–wall interaction

The interaction between impacting and splashed droplets and air motion plays a fundamental role on the mixture formation process, which is a crucial aspect for the correct operation of modern DI Diesel engines as it greatly influences the combustion process and the exhaust emissions. A complete understanding of spray impingement is quite complex. A mixed numerical–experimental approach is proposed in this paper.     

Visualization of the evaporation of a diesel spray using combined Mie and Rayleigh scattering techniques

Evaporating Diesel sprays are studied by laser Rayleigh scattering measurements in an optically accessible high-pressure/high-temperature cell that reproduces the thermodynamic conditions which exist in the combustion chamber of a Diesel engine during injection. n-Decane is injected into the vessel using a state-of-the-art near-production three-hole nozzle. Global images of the distributions of the liquid and vapor phases of the injected fuel are obtained using a combined Schlieren and Mie scattering setup. More details about the evaporation are revealed when the spray is illuminated by a laser light sheet: laser light can be scattered by molecules in the gas phase (Rayleigh scattering) or comparably large fuel droplets (Mie scattering). The former is seen in regions where the fuel has completely evaporated, and the latter is dominant in regions with high droplet concentrations. Studying the polarization of the signal light allows the distinction of three different regions in the spray that are characterized by a moderate, low or negligible concentration of liquid fuel droplets. The characteristics of fuel evaporation are investigated for different observation times after the start of injection, chamber conditions and injection pressures. For the quantification of the fuel concentration measurements based on Rayleigh scattering, a calibration method that uses propane as a reference gas is presented and tested. At high ambient temperatures, the accuracy of the concentration measurements is limited by pyrolysis of the fuel molecules. This paper was originally presented at the 14th International Symposium on Applications of Laser Techniques to Fluid Mechanics, Lisbon, 2008.     

Flow characteristics of a large-size pressure-atomized spray using DTV

The purpose of this study is to characterize the atomization of a jet of water sprayed into the air at high velocity through a commercial nozzle widely used for sprinkler irrigation. The typical diameter of the droplets present in the spray is in the range of several tens of micrometers to several millimeters. They are visualized by ombroscopy. A specific Droplet Tracking Velocimetry (DTV) technique is developed to estimate the size and velocity of these highly polydispersed droplets that are distinctly non spherical. This analysis is performed from the rupture of the liquid core region (about a distance of 550 nozzle diameters) to the dispersed zone (about a distance of 900 nozzle diameters). With this technique, we obtain joint size-velocity measurements that are rarely produced. Especially two velocity components and also a large diameter range are characterized at the same time; while with other techniques, such as Particle Doppler Anemometry (PDA), the diameter range is quite reduced and requires specific settings. Additional measurements of the liquid volume fraction are performed using a single mode fiber-optic probe. In the light of our experimental data, it appears that the turbulent droplet motion in the spray is strongly anisotropic. This anisotropy is quite unexpected because other studies on sprays (generally concerned with engine applications) show a relatively low anisotropy. We attribute this increase of anisotropy to the fact that, for this type of spray, the droplet relaxation time is long in comparison to the characteristic time of the turbulence and that biggest droplets are still submitted to atomization process. This strong anisotropy is responsible for the poor radial dispersion of the spray.     

A unified spray model for engine spray simulation using dynamic mesh refinement

This study is based on dynamic mesh refinement and uses spray breakup models to simulate engine spray dynamics. It is known that the Lagrangian discrete particle technique for spray modeling is sensitive to gird resolution. An adequate spatial resolution in the spray region is necessary to account for the momentum and energy coupling between the gas and liquid phases. This study uses a dynamic mesh refinement algorithm that is adaptive to spray particles to increase the accuracy of spray modeling. On the other hand, the accurate prediction of the spray structure and drop vaporization requires accurate physical models to simulate fuel injection and spray breakup. The present primary jet breakup model predicts the initial breakup of the liquid jet due to the surface instability to generate droplets. A secondary breakup model is then responsible for further breakup of these droplets. The secondary breakup model considers the growth of the unstable waves that are formed on the droplet surface due to the aerodynamic force. The simulation results are compared with experimental data in gasoline spray structure and liquid penetration length. Validations are also performed by comparing the liquid length of a vaporizing diesel spray and its variations with different parameters including the orifice diameter, injection pressure, and ambient gas temperature and density. The model is also applied to simulate a direct-injection gasoline engine with a realistic geometry. The present spray model with dynamic mesh refinement algorithm is shown to predict the spray structure and liquid penetration accurately with reasonable computational cost.     

椭球液滴撞击超疏水表面反弹过程数值分析

液滴在自由落体或受外力作用时常发生椭球形变,对其撞击超疏水壁面的运动形态及形成二次液滴有较大影响.本文假定具有不同轴向半径比值(AR)的椭球形液滴,采用耦合水平集-体积分数(CLSVOF)方法对椭球形液滴撞击超疏水平壁面进行数值模拟研究,对椭球形液滴撞击超疏水平壁面反弹过程运动形态和AR对二次液滴形成的影响进行分析.研究表明,不同AR液滴撞击超疏水壁面后反弹过程具有一定相似性,同时存在明显差异.液滴反弹过程中会拉伸形成长液柱,其未扰动界面直径随AR的增大而减小.在Plateau-Rayleigh不稳定性影响下,长液柱会发生破碎形成二次液滴,但较低的AR对二次液滴的形成有较明显的抑制作用,当AR小于临界值0.6时,反弹过程中液滴内部压力均匀稳定,最终不产生二次液滴.     

The combined influence of a rough surface and thin fluid film upon the splashing threshold and splash dynamics of a droplet impacting onto them

Surface roughness can have a critical effect upon the splashing threshold and dynamics of a drop impacting on either a dry or rough solid surface or one coated by a thin fluid film. As most coating applications and spray systems quickly evolve to a state where the droplets impinge upon fluid deposited by preceding droplets, the combined contributions of surface roughness and a pre-deposited thin liquid film of comparable thickness upon droplet impingement dynamics are examined. For comparison, we include results for droplets impacting on a smooth, dry surface and a smooth surface wetted by a thin fluid film. The inclusion of surface roughness considerably lowers the splashing threshold and alters the splashing dynamics such that differences in fluid surface tensions between 20.1 and 72.8 dynes/cm or viscosities between 0.4 and 3.3 cP have little effect.     

Experimental analysis of the flow characteristics of a pressure-atomised spray

An experimental setup has been created to allow measurements of the properties of the gas phase, the liquid phase and the mixture in a pressure-atomised spray of water, in terms of both mean quantities and Reynolds stresses. This setup involves laser Doppler velocimetry for determining the velocity of either the gas or liquid phase, according to the parameters used, such as seeding or no-seeding of the ambient air, laser source power, or photo-multiplier gains, droplet tracking velocimetry for determining the velocity and characteristic size of the droplets, and a single optical probe for determining the mean volume fraction of the liquid, from which the liquid mean mass fraction and the mean density of the mixture are inferred. The experimental conditions, in particular in terms of liquid and gas Weber numbers, were chosen in a range for which the liquid phase turbulent kinetic energy should be mainly responsible for the liquid-jet primary break-up, these flow conditions lying within the second wind-induced atomization regime. Results reported herein are more specifically focused on the region ranging from 400 nozzle diameters to 800 nozzle diameters, where the liquid core is disrupted. They provide new information about the formation and properties of such pressure-atomised sprays, in particular in terms of the role played by the Reynolds stresses resulting from the slip velocity between the liquid and the gas. The mean slip velocity is directly related to the turbulent flux of liquid. Such information will be used in the future to develop new turbulence models since very limited experimental information is so far available for these terms.     

Modelling spray impingement using linear stability theories for droplet shattering

This paper compares several linear‐theory‐based models for droplet shattering employed for simulations of spray impingement on flat wall surface or a circular cylinder. Numerical simulations are conducted using a stochastic separated flow (SSF) technique that includes sub‐models for droplet dynamics and impact. Results for spray impingement over a flat wall indicate that the linear theory applicable for a single droplet impact over‐predicts the number of satellite (or secondary) droplets upon shattering when compared to experimental data. The causes for the observed discrepancies are discussed. Numerical simulation results for spray impingement over a circular cylinder in cross flow are obtained and discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the impacts of droplets deposited from the gas core onto a gas-sheared liquid film

The results of an experimental study on droplet impactions in the flow of a gas-sheared liquid film are presented. In contrast to most similar studies, the impacting droplets were entrained from film surface by the gas stream. The measurements provide film thickness data, resolved in both longitudinal and transverse coordinates and in time together with the images of droplets above the interface and images of gas bubbles entrapped by liquid film. The parameters of impacting droplets were measured together with the local liquid film thickness. Two main scenarios of droplet-film interaction, based on type of film perturbation, are identified; the parameter identifying which scenario occurs is identified as the angle of impingement. At large angles an asymmetric crater appears on film surface; at shallow angles a long, narrow furrow appears. The most significant difference between the two scenarios is related to possible impact outcome: craters may lead to creation secondary droplets, whereas furrows are accompanied by entrapment of gas bubbles into the liquid film. In addition, occurrence of partial survival of impacting droplet is reported.     

Spray impact onto flat and rigid walls: Empirical characterization and modelling

An experimental study of spray impact onto horizontal flat and rigid surfaces is presented and used as input data for a new empirical model. A phase Doppler instrument has been used to measure drop size and two components of velocity directly above the target. The average film thickness formed due to spray impact has been measured using a high-speed CCD camera. The spray–wall interaction has been characterized in terms of correlations for the velocity and trajectory of secondary droplets and the mass and number ratio of the secondary spray. The novel aspect of the model is that the correlations are based on mean statistics over many events and not on the outcome of single drop impact experiments. Furthermore a rather large range of oblique impact angles have been studied and incorporated into the empirical models as an influencing factor.     

Assessment of a 3D CFD model for GDI spray impact against wall through experiments based on different optical techniques

Performance of internal combustion engines is well known being greatly affected by the air-fuel mixture formation process. In spark ignition engines, in particular, the gasoline direct injection (GDI) technology is currently preferred, as it allows obtaining the desired air-to-fuel ratio distribution at each regime of operation, either by creating stoichiometric mixtures under high power demands, or through charge stratification around the spark plug at intermediate or lower loads. The impact of the gasoline spray on the piston or cylinder walls is a key factor, especially under the so-called wall-guided mixture formation mode. The impact causes droplets rebound and/or the deposition of a liquid film (wallfilm). After being rebounded, droplets undergo what is called secondary atomization. The wallfilm, on the other hand, may remain of no negligible size and evaporate slowly, leading to increased unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter emissions.Optimization of the heterogeneous mixture behavior in GDI engines is fundamental for guaranteeing high energetic and environmental performance over the whole working map. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be useful in this perspective to effect proper choices of control strategies. Assessment of predictive engine models, able to describe the complex phenomena underlying energy conversion in modern engines, is therefore mandatory to the scope.In the present paper, a basic study is performed on gasoline sprays issuing from high pressure injectors under controlled conditions: the experimental characterization of multi-hole and single-hole GDI sprays in their impact over a plate is carried out with the aim of creating a set of data to be used for the validation of a properly developed simulation model. The multi-hole spray allows accounting for the jet-to-jet interaction and represents a condition closer to the actual gasoline supply mode in present GDI engines. The single-hole injector configuration is instead preferred for a more detailed study, as it allows capturing effects related to the role that diverse parameters characterizing the liquid droplet dynamics play during and after their impingement on heated solid surfaces. The CFD model is conceived with the scope of its future application within numerical calculations of entire engine working cycles. A highly portable free spray sub-model allows correctly reproducing the injection dynamics under different conditions in a confined vessel, while the spray-wall impingement sub-model is shown being able to highlight to an acceptable extent the gasoline splashing and deposition phenomena.     

Study on heat transfer performance of spray cooling: model and analysis

In consideration of droplet–film impaction, film formation, film motion, bubble boiling (both wall nucleation bubbles and secondary nucleation bubbles), droplet–bubble interaction, bulk air convection and radiation, a model to predict the heat and mass transfer in spray cooling was presented in this paper. The droplet–film impaction was modeled based on an empirical correlation related with droplet Weber number. The film formation, film motion, bubble growth, and bubble motion were modeled based on dynamics fundamentals. The model was validated by the experimental results provided in this paper, and a favorable comparison was demonstrated with a deviation below 10%. The film thickness, film velocity, and non-uniform surface temperature distribution were obtained numerically, and then analyzed. A parameters sensitivity analysis was made to obtain the influence of spray angle, surface heat flux density, and spray flow rate on the surface temperature distribution, respectively. It can be concluded that the heat transfer induced by droplet–film impaction and film-surface convection is dominant in spray cooling under conditions that the heated surface is not superheated. However, the effect of boiling bubbles increases rapidly while the heated surface becomes superheated.     

Droplet size and morphology characterization for dense sprays by image processing: application to the Diesel spray

Up to now, measurement of drop size remains difficult in dense sprays such as those encountered in Diesel applications. Commonly used diagnostics are often limited due to multi-scattering effects, high drop velocity and concentration and also nonspherical shapes. The advantage of image-based techniques on the others is its ability to describe the shape of liquid particles that are not fully atomized or relaxed. In the present study, a model is developed to correct the main drawbacks of imaging. It permits to define criteria for the correction of the apparent size of an unfocused drop and to determine a measurement volume independent of the drop size. This considerably reduces the over-estimation of large drops in the drop size distribution. Drop shapes are also characterized by four morphological parameters. The image-based granulometer is satisfactorily compared to a PDPA and a diffraction-based granulometer for measurements on an ultrasonic spray. Then, the new granulometer is applied to a diesel spray. One of the results of the analysis is that even if mean drop size distributions are stable 30 mm downstream from the nozzle outlet, the shape of the drops is still evolving towards the spherical shape. The atomization process is thus not totally established at this position in opposition to what can be deduced from the drop size distribution alone.     

Transient analysis of intermittent multijet sprays

This paper analyzes the transient characteristics of intermittent sprays produced by the single-point impact of multiple cylindrical jets. The aim is to perform a transient analysis of the intermittent atomization process to study the effect of varying the number of impinging jets in the hydrodynamic mechanisms of droplet formation. The results evidence that hydrodynamic mechanisms underlying the physics of ligament fragmentation in 2-impinging jets sprays also apply to sprays produced with more than 2 jets during the main period of injection. Ligaments detaching from the liquid sheet, as well as from its bounding rim, have been identified and associated with distinct droplet clusters, which become more evident as the number of impinging jets increases. Droplets produced by detached ligaments constitute the main spray, and their axial velocity becomes more uniformly distributed with 4-impinging jets because of a delayed ligament fragmentation. Multijet spray dispersion patterns are geometric depending on the number of impinging jets. Finally, an analysis on the Weber number of droplets suggests that multijet sprays are more likely to deposit on interposed surfaces, thus becoming a promising and competitive atomization solution for improving spray cooling.