The spray from an airblast atomizer was investigated by the Phase-Doppler technique. The drop size-velocity data determined the properties of the gas and droplet phases. Formulae to estimate mean diameters and size distributions of sprays were evaluated. The Gamma PDF described most accurately the size distribution of the spray.

The present work comparably examines four different twin-fluid atomizers operated under the same operating conditions. Spray formation was examined by several approaches. The internal flow pattern was estimated using a simplified analytical approach, and the results were supported by the observation of the liquid discharge in the near-nozzle region. A high-speed back illumination was used for visualisation of the primary breakup. In the region of fully developed spray, the dynamics of droplets was studied using a phase-Doppler analyser (PDA). The information obtained from all methods was then correlated. Results show that the spray formation process depends mainly on the internal design of twin-fluid atomizer at low gas to liquid ratios (GLR). The amount of gas influences the character of the internal two-phase flow, a mechanism of the liquid breakup, droplet dynamics and a resulting drop size distribution. Differences among the atomizers are reduced with the increase in GLR. Moreover, it was shown that a certain mixing process can inherently create the annular internal flow which generates a stable spray characterized by relatively low mean droplet size.

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The energy transfer between a liquid hollow cone spray and the surrounding air has been studied using both imaging and phase-Doppler techniques. The spray was produced by a pressure-swirl atomizer discharging Jet A-1 fuel at inlet over pressures of p = 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 MPa into quiescent ambient air. The liquid exits the nozzle as a conical film which thins as it spreads and develops long-and shortwave sinusoidal instabilities with breakup occurring, at the length smaller than that predicted by the inviscid model, to form film fragments and ultimately droplets downstream the spray. The single shot imaging characterised the spray regions of near-nozzle flow, the breakup processes and the developed spray. The phase-Doppler system resolved the three components of velocity and size for the droplet flow as measured on radial profiles for four axial distances from the nozzle exit. A Stokes number, Stk, analysis of the droplets' response times to the airflow timescales showed that droplets < 5 µm followed the airflow faithfully and so were used to estimate the local airflow velocity. This allowed a comparison of both the droplet and airflow fields in terms of their mean and fluctuating velocity components to be made. The formation of the hollow cone spray and the interaction of the fragments and droplets with the air, through viscous drag, induce complex entrained airflows. The airflow was found to be highly anisotropic, fluctuating preferentially in the downstream direction, and spatially varying within three distinct spray regions. The air drag establishes a positive size-velocity correlation of droplets; their Stk reduces with axial distance and increases with droplet size and p; so that Stk ≈ 1 for 20-40 µm droplets and the largest droplets (80-160 µm, Stk > 10) move ballistically. The spatially resolved mean and turbulent kinetic energies of the air and spectra of the droplet velocity fluctuations are detailed in the paper. These findings are relevant to scientists and engineers modelling the complex two-phase flows.