U.S. patent number 3,844,484 [Application Number 05/418,777] was granted by the patent office on 1974-10-29 for method of fuel atomization and a fuel atomizer nozzle therefor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hitachi, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Tadahisa Masai.
United States Patent |
3,844,484 |
Masai |
October 29, 1974 |
METHOD OF FUEL ATOMIZATION AND A FUEL ATOMIZER NOZZLE THEREFOR
Abstract
A very fine fuel particle size is obtained by atomization
resulting from the intersection of a fuel stream from a fuel nozzle
and a gas stream from a gas nozzle with respective velocity vectors
forming an angle at least as great as 90.degree., with atomization
of an inverse Y-jet type. Preferably, the fuel is jetted with a
whirling motion in an axial direction away from the atomizer, and
the gas is whirled inwardly at right angles to its whirling axis or
axially either in the same direction as or in the opposite
direction as the axial direction of movement for the fuel. The fuel
and preferably also the gas will be whirled conically, that is with
both a radial and axial component of movement with respect to the
whirling axis.
Inventors: |
Masai; Tadahisa (Hitachi,
JA) |
Assignee: |
Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo,
JA)
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Family
ID: |
27279041 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/418,777 |
Filed: |
November 21, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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231702 |
Mar 3, 1972 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 3, 1971 [JA] |
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46-10653 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
239/404 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F23D
11/107 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F23D
11/10 (20060101); B05b 007/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;239/399,404-405,406 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: King; Lloyd L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Beall, Jr.; Thomas E.
Parent Case Text
This is a division, of application Ser. No. 231,702 filed Mar. 3,
1972.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A fuel atomizer nozzle, comprising: a liquid fuel passage, fuel
whirling means receiving fuel from said fuel passage and moving the
fuel in a whirling pattern about a fuel axis; fuel nozzle means to
project the whirling fuel in a conical whirling jet generally in an
axial direction with respect to said fuel axis; and gas nozzle
means for producing a whirling gas stream downstream of said fuel
nozzle means intersecting the whirling fuel jet so that at the
points of intersection the gas velocity vector generally forms an
angle greater than 90.degree. with the fuel velocity vector.
2. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said gas
nozzle means whirls the gas stream about said fuel axis with a
radial component of velocity with respect to said fuel axis.
3. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said gas
nozzle means whirls the gas stream about the fuel axis and
discharges the whirling gas in an axial direction corresponding to
the axial direction of movement of the whirling fuel jet.
4. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said gas
nozzle means whirls the gas stream about said fuel axis and
projects the whirling gas stream in an axial direction opposite to
the axial direction of the whirling fuel jet.
5. A fuel atomizer nozzle, comprising: spaced inner and outer
annular walls forming therebetween an annular chamber; fuel
injection means opening through said inner annular wall for
projecting a stream of fuel in a whirling conical path axially into
said annular chamber; a fuel passage means for supplying fuel under
pressure to said fuel injection means; a gas injection means having
gas outlets around said outer annular wall for projecting a
whirling gas stream into said annular chamber; gas passage means
for supplying gas under pressure to said gas injection means; said
gas injection means and said fuel injection means cooperating to
intersect the projected gas stream with the projected fuel stream
so that at the points of intersection, the gas velocity vector will
form an angle with the fuel velocity vector within said annular
cavity greater than 90.degree..
6. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 5, wherein said gas
injection means gas outlets are each open at one end to said gas
passage means and open at the other end generally tangentially to
said outer annular wall.
7. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 6, wherein said gas
outlets are tapered in cross section from said gas passage end to
said outer annular wall end.
8. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 5, wherein said fuel
injection means includes a plurality of fuel passages, each opening
at one end to said fuel passage means and opening at the opposite
end tangentially through said inner annular wall.
9. The fuel atomizer nozzle according to claim 5, wherein said fuel
injection means whirls the fuel stream within said annular chamber
in one rotary direction about the axis of said annular chamber and
said gas injection means whirls the gas stream within said annular
chamber in the opposite rotary direction, with respect to the axis
of said annular chamber.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods of fuel atomization and
fuel atomizer nozzles therefor, which are usually employed with the
combustion chambers of boilers, gas turbines and the like. In the
prior art fuel atomizer nozzles, only a very small percentage of
the total kinetic energy of the air is utilized in the atomization
of the fuel. In the combustion of atomized fuel, the combustion
intensity and efficiency is primarily determined by the average
surface area of the fuel particles in contact with the air or other
oxidizer. Particularly, with liquid fuels, the time required for
the evaporation of the liquid drops or particles is extremely
important and generally proportional to the square of the particle
diameter. Since combustion efficiency increases with finer atomized
fuel particles given off by the atomizer nozzle, if finely atomized
fuel is available, high load combustion is possible with a very
small combustor. In this respect, the fuel atomizer that determines
fuel particle size of the combustor is very important.
Recently, the desired capacity for a combustor has been rapidly
increasing, particularly from economical demands. Also, air
pollution problems are becoming increasingly serious, and
administrative regulations regarding non-combusted hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gas, soot
and dust are becoming increasingly severe.
One of the typical prior art atomizer nozzles is of what is termed
a parallel type. This type of atomizer nozzle is constructed so
that an air jet nozzle is concentric with and before a fuel jet
nozzle, with both having the same fluid directions for projection.
Since the driving power for atomization of liquid fuel is gained
from the relative velocity between the air or gas and the liquid
fuel, in this parallel type of atomizer, the relative velocity is
so small that the efficiency of atomization by the air is quite
low, that is the fuel particle size will be relatively great on the
average.
Other prior art atomizer nozzles are what may be termed the Y-jet
type, one of which is constructed so that the liquid fuel is
injected in the passage of the air within the atomizer nozzle at an
angle of about 45.degree. with respect to the direction of the air
passage, and thereafter the mixed air and fuel is jetted from the
atomizer nozzle. Since the relative velocity, between the fuel and
air, for the Y-type of atomizer nozzle is larger than for the
parallel type of atomizer nozzle and at the same time the stream of
air shears the stream of liquid fuel, the atomization of fuel for
the Y-type of atomizer nozzle is considerably better than that
obtained with the parallel type of atomizer nozzle.
Further, it is known to provide a right angled type of atomizer
nozzle, where the velocity vectors for the air and fuel stream,
respectively, meet or intersect at a right angle. Thus, the
relative velocity in the direction of air flow is larger than for
the Y-jet type of atomizer nozzle.
As the relative velocity between the air and fuel becomes larger,
the atomization for the fuel correspondingly is improved. However,
the fuel stream increasingly tends to receive the dynamic pressure
of the air stream with increased relative velocity to become
unstable.
On the other hand, another prior art type of atomizer nozzle jets
and whirls the air and fuel, respectively for improving the
efficiency of atomization. This type of nozzle is constructed so
that the air is jetted toward the stream of whirling fuel, but
there is the considerable drawback that the jet angle for the fuel
is extremely small.
Thus, although the above-mentioned atomizer nozzle types have been
improved as noted, they are still unsatisfactory for high
performance and have many drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of
fuel atomization by a fuel atomizer nozzle, wherein the liquid fuel
is atomized by jetting or injecting the fuel and the gas so that
the velocity vectors of the fuel stream jetted or injected meet the
velocity vectors of the gas stream jetted or injected at angles
greater than 90.degree., which will produce excellent particle
sizes and stable atomizing characteristics.
This object is primarily accomplished by whirling both the air and
fuel, in opposite directions about a common axis, with axial
components of movement in the same direction or the opposite
direction, or with only the fuel having an axial component of
movement, or with neither having an axial component of movement.
Further, it is preferable to provide both the whirling gas stream
and whirling fuel stream with opposite radial velocity vector
components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become more clear from the following detailed description of
the drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a partial cross sectional view taken through one
embodiment of an atomizer nozzle according to the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line II--II in FIG.
1;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing another embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the nozzle of FIG. 1 showing the
air or gas and fuel stream velocity vectors;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but of an additional embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but of still another embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but of another embodiment of
the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line VIII--VIII of
FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a cross section similar to that of FIG. 8, but showing a
variation thereof;
FIG. 10 classifies various atomizer methods in a chart according to
the relation between the air and fuel stream velocity vectors;
and
FIG. 11 is a graph showing experimentally obtained values for mean
atomized particles diameter plotted against the ratio between air
stream speed and fuel stream speed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the atomizer nozzle includes a nozzle
cap 1 assembled concentrically with a nozzle body 2. A vortex
chamber 3 is formed by drilling or the like within the nozzle body
2 and connects with a liquid fuel nozzle 4 and a flared fuel
guiding surface portion 6, which is generally frusto-conically
formed, all of which is annularly symmetrical with respect to a
central axis for the cap 1 and body 2. Further, the fuel nozzle
body 2 is formed with upstream, to the right in FIG. 1, enlarged
chamber portions containing therein the fuel whirling means 8.
Preferably, the fuel whirling means 8 is assembled within the body
2 by a threaded connection and contains a central fuel passage 13
delivering fuel to fuel passages 9, which are in turn connected
with an annular fuel reservoir 10 for feeding fuel under pressure
to the peripherally arranged fuel injection grooves 11. The fuel
injection grooves are formed so that the directions of the grooves
are along the tangent of the inner surface of the vortex chamber
3.
The downstream end of the nozzle body 2 is formed with a plurality
of peripherally arranged helically grooves 5, which form a
plurality of gas passages with the nozzle cap 1 constituting the
gas nozzle. The annular chamber or space between the inner surface
of the nozzle cap 1 and the outer surface of the nozzle body 2
forms a gas delivery chamber for the gas, which is preferably air,
oxygen or the like.
The fuel 15 is supplied in the direction of the arrow to the fuel
reservoir 10 through the fuel passages 13, 9 under pressure and is
thereafter injected into the vortex chamber 3 through the fuel
injection grooves 11. Since as mentioned above the grooves 11 are
tangent to the inner surface of the vortex chamber 3, the injected
fuel within the vortex chamber 3 will whirl about the axis of
symmetry for the nozzle in the manner of a vortex, so that whirling
fuel is jetted as a vortex or whirling stream through the fuel
nozzle 4 into the outer portion A of the atomizer nozzle
peripherally closely adjacent the downstream end of the helical
grooves 5. The whirling stream of fuel jetted from the fuel nozzle
4 will travel in a generally conical path as guided by the guiding
surface portion 6. The gas 14 traveling in the direction of the
arrow under pressure within the annular chamber formed between the
nozzle cap 1 and nozzle body 2 will pass through the helical
grooves 5 to be jetted in a whirling pattern as dictated by the
helical grooves to intersect the fuel generally along the
peripheral area A for atomizing the same.
With the above-mentioned construction, the atomizer nozzle is not
affected by the dynamic pressure of the gas, so that steady state
fuel supply will be insured, for general steady state
conditions.
As the flare angle .alpha. of the flared or conical surface portion
6 is increased, a transition angle will be reached wherein the
whirling fuel stream flow will leave or separate from the surface
6. The threshold angle .alpha..sub.o, that is the above-mentioned
angle at which the whirling fuel flow just starts to separate from
the surface 6, is determined by the following equation:
.alpha..sub.o = 2tan.sup..sup.-1 {K/.sqroot.1-K.sup.2 }
, where K is generally known as the cavity constant, a parameter
representing the intensity of the whirling of the fuel.
In practice, it is most advantageous and therefore preferred to
construct the flare angle .alpha. at or slightly greater than the
transition angle .alpha..sub.o, because with separation of the
whirling fuel from the surface 6 the energy loss due to viscosity
of the fuel is substantially less than what it would be for flare
angles less than .alpha..sub.o. In operations wherein the flare
angle .alpha. is less than the threshold or transition angle
.alpha..sub.o, the fuel will be guided along the flared or conical
surface portion 6 toward the outlet of the helical grooves 5 of the
gas nozzle. This will serve to supply the whirling fuel to where
the gas velocity is the greatest. In a construction wherein the
flare angle .alpha. is greater than the transition angle
.alpha..sub.o, the presence of the flared or conical surface 6
becomes meaningless and generally has no effect. Thus, the atomizer
nozzle of FIG. 1 may be constructed as shown in FIG. 3 wherein a
cylindrical cavity 6a is formed in the nozzle body 2a in place of
the conical surface 6 of FIG. 1. Otherwise, the nozzle cap 1a,
nozzle body 2a and fuel whirling means are identical to the
corresponding elements of FIG. 1 that have previously been
described. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 and subsequent
embodiments only the differences between the embodiments will be
described in detail and it is to be understood that the remaining
illustrated structures are identical to those already described
with respect to FIG. 1.
In practice, the atomizer nozzle of FIGS. 1 and 3 are of the
inverse or reverse Y-jet type according to the chart of FIG. 10. As
shown in FIG. 4 with respect to a point of intersection B between
the whirling fuel stream along the conical path 7, which would be
along the flared or conical surface portion 6 of FIG. 1, it is seen
that the directions of the gas and fuel streams are reversed, so
that the velocity vector Va of the jetted gas from the helical
grooves 5 and the velocity vector Vf of the fuel jetted from the
fuel nozzle 4 form an intersection angle substantially greater than
90.degree. of the reverse Y-jet type.
The further modification of FIG. 5 differs from the previous
construction of FIG. 1 in that the helical grooves 5b that jet the
gas generally lie within a plane perpendicular to the axis of
symmetry for the atomizer nozzle and particularly for the fuel axis
passing through the fuel nozzle 4b of the nozzle body 2b. Of
course, the passages formed by the nozzle cap 1b and the helical
grooves 5b will still provide a whirling movement for the exiting
gas stream, but there will be no axial component for the gas
velocity vector. With the construction of FIG. 5, the angle between
the velocity vectors for the gas and fuel at intersection will be
substantially larger than for the nozzle of FIG. 1.
According to the further modification of FIG. 6, the gas jet
passages formed between the nozzle cap 1c and nozzle body 2c by the
helical grooves 5c will whirl the gas with an axial velocity vector
component opposite in direction to that of the previously described
fuel jet axial velocity vector component, to produce an even
greater atomization of the fuel than would be obtained with the
previously described embodiments. With the construction of FIG. 6,
it is possible to have a velocity vector intersection angle between
the gas stream and fuel stream of approximately 180.degree..
While the preceding embodiments have utilized the fuel pressure in
forming the whirling fuel stream, the most simple one of the other
methods of supplying the fuel is to utilize an annular cavity.
The atomizer nozzle according to FIGS. 7 and 8 includes a nozzle
cap 16 concentrically mounted and generally spaced from a nozzle
body 17, which is formed with a plurality of angled outlet grooves
18 forming a plurality of gas nozzle passages between the
downstream ends of the nozzle cap 16 and nozzle body 17. A fuel
supply tube 19 is threadably connected concentrically with the
nozzle body 17, and is threadably assembled until the annular
projection or flange 20 axially abuts the illustrated interior
shoulder of the nozzle body 17 to fix the relative position between
the nozzle body 17 and the fuel supply tube 19 by tightening the
threads 21. The hollow fuel supply tube 19 forms fuel passage 22 in
its interior, and is generally closed at its downstream end, which
is the left hand end in FIG. 7. At this downstream end, the fuel
supply tube 19 is formed with the plurality of fuel nozzle passages
23 that angularly open through the outer peripheral surface of the
fuel supply tube 19. An annular gas supply passage 24 is formed
between the inner cylindrical surface of the nozzle cap 16 and the
outer cylindrical surface of the nozzle body 17, and provides fluid
communication with the gas nozzle passages 18, which passages 18
tangentially open into the annular cavity or chamber 25. The fuel
nozzle outlet passages 23 pass through the inner cylindrical
surface of the chamber 25, and the gas nozzle passages pass through
the outer cylindrical surface of the annular chamber 25.
With the fuel atomizer nozzle of FIGS. 7 and 8, the fuel 27 is
supplied in the direction of the arrow within the fuel passage 22
under pressure to the fuel nozzle passages 23 to be jetted or
injected into the annular cavity or chamber 25 with a whirling
motion having a radial velocity vector component, but without an
axial velocity vector component. The gas 26 is supplied in the
direction of the arrow through the annular gas passage 24 under
pressure to the gas nozzle passages 18 to be injected or jetted
with a whirling motion into the annular chamber 25 with an inwardly
directed radial velocity vector component, but without any axial
velocity vector component. Thus, as particularly seen from FIG. 8
with respect to the angularity of the nozzle passages 18, 23, the
jetted gas stream will be whirled in one rotational direction about
the axis of symmetry for the atomizer nozzle and the jetted fuel
stream will be whirled in the opposite rotational direction about
the same axis, and the radial velocity vector components of the gas
stream and fuel stream will be opposite so that they will intersect
to mix the fuel with the gas and atomize the fuel. The atomized
fuel will be diffused toward the left hand end of the annular
chamber 25 due to the pressure differential between the open left
hand end and the closed right hand end of the annular chamber 25,
as seen in FIG. 7, as the atomized fuel whirls by the gas stream.
With the nozzle of FIG. 7, the air and fuel stream velocity vectors
intersect at an angle greater than 90.degree., that is they form
the reverse Y-jet type of atomizer nozzle so that very efficient
atomization may be achieved.
The variation of the atomizer nozzle according to FIGS. 7 and 8,
which variation is shown in FIG. 9, differs only in that it employs
tapered gas nozzle passages 18a, which would be used with subsonic
jetted gas flow. With supersonic jetted gas flow, the gas nozzle
passages 18 would be flared or tapered in the opposite direction;
that is, with subsonic flow, the gas passages would converge, while
with supersonic flow, they would diverge.
In FIG. 10, the various types of atomizer nozzles are classified
according to the relationship between the velocity vectors for the
air and fuel stream. Namely, there are shown the parallel type, the
Y-jet type, the normal or right angled type, and the reverse Y-jet
type nozzles, proceeding from the left to the right.
FIG. 11 shows the results of experiments conducted with the four
types of atomizer nozzles classified in FIG. 10. It is seen that
with the right angle type and reverse Y-jet type of atomizer
nozzles, particularly the latter, the mean particle diameter of
atomized fuel is quite small over a wide range of relative speed,
and also it varies less with change in air flow as compared with
the remaining two types of atomizer nozzles.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide
atomizer nozzles having excellent atomizing characteristics. Thus,
complete combustion of liquid fuel similar to that of gas fuel may
be readily achieved. Further, according to the present invention,
the exhaust gases will contain practically no unburnt or
non-combusted hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, and the
concentration of smoke mainly composed of unburned carbon may be
reduced, so that the invention is very useful in the prevention of
air pollution or contamination by combustion apparatus. Since the
atomizing efficiency of the present invention is excellent, the
above objects may be achieved with very little compressing of the
air or oxidizing gas, which means a reduction in the driving power
of the auxiliary units, particularly the cost and size of a
compressor; this is true, because it is well known that the pumping
of a liquid requires very little power in comparison with the
pumping of a gas. Furthermore, the present invention is
particularly useful for gas turbines for vessels or vehicles using
low-grade fuel such as C-grade heavy oil, because with such
low-grade fuel the attachment of ashes to the walls of the fuel-air
mixture passage can be prevented by virtue of the complete
combustion.
Since the method of atomizing has been described along with the
description of the structure and further illustrated by various
diagrams, no separate operation or method description will be
given.
While many embodiments of the present invention with variations
have been specifically illustrated and described as above, further
modifications, embodiments and variations are contemplated within
the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the
following claims.
* * * * *