EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF A MODEL GAS-TURBINE COMBUSTOR SWIRL CUP .1. 2-PHASE CHARACTERIZATION

The behavior of droplets and the continuous phase (i.e., gas in the pr esence of the droplets) downstream of a 3x model gas turbine combustor dome swirl cup is characterized via phase Doppler interferometry in t he absence of reaction. The goal is to improve the understanding of dr oplet-gas interaction in a complex flow typical of that produced by en gine hardware. Three components of continuous phase and droplet veloci ties were measured along with droplet size. The measurements reveal th at 1) at the exit plane of the swirl cup, more uniform and finer dropl ets are produced relative to the atomizer alone, 2) both the continuou s phase and droplets recirculate, 3) the region downstream of the swir l cup into which droplets join the recirculation is correlated with dr oplet size, and 4) significant slip velocities exist between the conti nuous phase and the droplets which are also correlated with droplet si ze and reflect a strong momentum exchange between the phases.