Engineering topics

Brena De La Rosa, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Brena De La Rosa, A..

6 records

NASA NTRS1992

Particle diagnostics and turbulence measurements in a confined isothermal liquid spray

An experimental study of the behavior and structure of a liquid spray immersed in a strong swirling field is reported. In order to simulate some of the aerodynamic conditions experienced by a spray in a model combustor, an experimental setup using an acrylic chamber, a vane-type swirler, and separate air supplies for both the secondary air and swirl air were integrated to perform the experiments in the wind tunnel. The effect of the swirling flow on the original spray cone is to widen it substantially, and to provide a vortex core where intense mixing results in large changes in particle size distribution and in particle number density. Outside the recirculation region, both the D32 and N sub d attain more uniform values. Inside the recirculation region, the mean axial velocity averaged over all the drop sizes has larger values than the mean air velocity. Outside the recirculation region, both the particles and the air exhibit virtually the same velocities. The turbulence measurements showed regions of high turbulence intensity in the boundaries of the recirculation region.

Brena De La Rosa, A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Characterization of coaxial rocket injector sprays under high pressure environments

The effect of elevated environment pressures on the atomization characteristics of a single element, scaled-down, shear-coaxial rocket injector has been investigated. In this study, the shear coaxial injector was operated with water and air as simulants for conventionally used liquid oxygen and hydrogen gas, respectively. The experiments were conducted in a specially designed high pressure rig. A two-component PDPA/DSA system was used to study the spray characteristics at different chamber pressures ranging from atmospheric to 100 psig. The study showed an overall increase in the droplet sizes at higher chamber pressures. This phenomenon is attributed to a decrease in the secondary atomization effects at higher chamber pressures which, in turn, is directly related to a decrease in the shear experienced by the droplets as they move axially through the pressure chamber.

Sankar, S. V.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Liquid atomization by coaxial rocket injectors

The atomization characteristics of a scaled-down version of a coaxial rocket injector was investigated using a phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA). The injector was operated in the conventional mode with liquid being injected through its inner orifice and gas being injected through its outer annulus. The shearing action occurring at the liquid-gas interface causes the liquid jet to atomize. In this study, two different liquid-air systems, namely a water-air system and a liquid nitrogen-gaseous nitrogen system, were chosen for detailed investigation. This paper discusses the performance characteristics of the coaxial injector under different flow and geometric conditions. Specifically, the effects of injection gas pressure and the injector cavity size on variables such as the mean particle diameter, Sauter mean diameter, number density, volume flux, and velocity have been presented.

Sankar, S. V.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Spray characterization and turbulence properties in an isothermal spray with swirl

In the present experimental study of the effects of swirl on the dynamic behavior of drops and on the velocity and turbulence fields of an isothermal spray, using a two-component phase Doppler particle analyzer, mean velocity and turbulence properties were obtained for the gas phase. Large differences are noted in the spatial distribution of the drops over the spray's size, velocity, and number density, when the spray in coflowing air is compared with the atomizer spraying into the swirling flow field with the same axial velocity. The turbulence properties of the swirling flow exhibit significant influence on the dynamic behavior of the drops.

Brena De La Rosa, A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Time analysis of polydisperse sprays in complex turbulent environments

The two-phase flow field of a small swirl-stabilized burner has been investigated, using a phase Doppler particle analyzer to obtain the velocity, drop size, and time of arrival components. Water/kerosene comparisons were made for the case of nonreacting flow. It is found that the spray flow field is strongly influenced by the aerodynamic flow field and by the reaction and fluid properties. It is noted that vortex shedding produces clusters of drops.

Rudoff, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Diagnostics development for spray characterization in complex turbulent flows

The present work reports a detailed investigation of air-liquid interaction in sprays along with particle number density and mass flux measurements in complex turbulent flows such as those present in gas turbines and rocket combustors. Data have been obtained for the characterization of sprays in complex flows which include detailed drop size and drop velocity distributions, size-velocity correlations, mass flux, and particle number density. Key factors affecting the measurement of the sample volume size are discussed in detail since an accurate estimation of it is essential to the particle number density and volume flux determined by the instrument. The discrimination of refraction and reflective scattering components and their influence on the measurements are also discussed. Data comparing the phase Doppler results to alternate methods of measuring number density and volume flux are also presented. These results showed agreement to within 15 percent in most cases for realistic flow configurations.

Bachalo, W. D.↗