Trajectory of a Liquid Jet in a High Temperature and Pressure Gaseous Cross Flow

An experimental study of liquid jet injection into subsonic air crossflow is presented. The aim of this study was to relate the jet trajectory to flow parameters, including jet and air velocities, pressure and temperature, as well as a set of nondimensional variables. For this purpose, an experimental setup was developed, which could withstand high temperatures and pressures. Images were captured using a laser-based shadowgraphy system. A total of 209 different conditions were tested and over 72,000 images were captured and processed. The crossflow air temperatures were 25 °C, 200 °C, and 300 °C; absolute crossflow air pressures were 2.1, 3.8, and 5.2 bars, and various liquid and gas velocities were tested for each given temperature and pressure. The results indicate that the trajectory and atomization change when the air and jet velocities are changed while keeping the momentum flux ratio constant. Therefore, it is beneficial to describe the trajectory based on air and jet Weber numbers or momentum flux ratio in combination with one of the Weber numbers. Also, examples are given where both Weber numbers are kept constant but the atomization is changed, and therefore, other terms beyond inertia terms are required to describe the spray behavior. It is also shown that the gas viscosity has to be considered when developing correlations. The correlations that include this term are generally better in predicting the trajectory. Therefore, Ohnesorge numbers in combination with the Weber numbers is used in the present correlations to describe the trajectories.