Experimental study of a heavy fuel oil atomization by pressure-swirl injector in the application of entrained flow gasifier

The available SMD (Sauter mean diameter) correlations on pressure-swirl injectors predict droplet sizing very different from each other, especially for heavy fuels. Also there was a lack in the literature for comparing available correlations. So an experimental study was conducted on a heavy fuel oil (HFO) spray, Mazut 380. A pressure swirl injector was designed and fabricated. The experiments for Mazut at 40℃ and 80℃ were compared with the results for water, including spray half cone angle, breakup length and mean droplet diameter, at different injection pressures. Lower spray angle, higher breakup length and larger droplets were observed for lower injection pressures and higher liquid viscosity. SMD was about 75 μm for water and about 87 μm for Mazut at 80℃. The results for droplet mean diameter were also compared with correlations from previous studies on pressure swirl atomizers. The SMD results show that for water spray, LISA method was in good agreement, also Babu and Ballester correlations were successful when high viscosity fluid was injected.