Liquid Fuel Atomizer

"The pulse detonation engine (PDE) is an exciting airbreathingpropulsion cycle with great potential for improved range andthrust. Most research has been performed with gaseous fuels, sodemonstrating rapid deflagration-to-detonation using storable,liquid hydrocarbon fuels is essential to the successfuldevelopment and widespread use of this engine. Unfortunately,liquid fuels require atomization, which introduces the challengeof detonating a liquid droplet spray. Recent research shows thatdroplet Sauter-mean diameters as small as 3 mm may be required.These droplets will track with the flow in the engine, but arenot expected to penetrate very far. Thus, fuel distributionduring atomization will be needed to reduce post-mixingenhancement. New atomization technologies are required toproduce these small droplets and still meet the Navy'srequirements of high temperature operability (500 ¿F), lowpressure drop (< 50 psid), high-speed on off pulsing with zero-drip closure and high fuel flow rates (0.5 lbm/s). Even thoughsuch an atomizer has never been built, there are no fundamentalproblems that prevent it. Therefore, TDA Research, teamed withthe University of Colorado-Boulder, proposed to develop a novelhigh-speed, high-resolution atomization system to meet theserequirements.BENEFITS: The atomizer developed by this research will be applicable in a wide range of propulsion and power generation applications, including aircraft and stationar