Analysis of liquid breakup regimes in fuel slinger atomization

Results are presented from analyses of liquid breakup regimes in which fuel slingers have recently been found to operate. A result is obtained for the liquid film thickness t that provides the proper length scale for correlating the atomization performance of slingers operating in the supercritical film-mode breakup regime. A corresponding result is also found for the subcritical ligament diameter d' that correlates the atomization performance of slingers operating in the subcritical film-mode regime. The transition between these modes is shown to scale as Wet1/2. Corresponding results are also presented for noncircular channel shapes. An analysis of in-channel Coriolis effects indicates how such liquid accumulation can be avoided. Slinger atomization performance is shown to correlate with a Weber number based on the appropriate length scale that governs the liquid breakup regime in which the slinger operates, with only a weak residual Ohnesorge number effect. Available data on slinger atomization performance are found to correlate well with the present results.