Air-atomizing fuel nozzle
AssigneeParker-Hannifin Corporation
InventorsHarold C. Simmons, Robert R. Conrad, Mihkel Orav
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel injection nozzle for gas turbines in which atomization of the liquid fuel is accomplished by high-velocity air entering the combustion chamber, characterized by minimizing the surface area of metal in contact with the fuel during the atomization process and further characterized by designing the air passages such that a swirling motion is imparted to the air followed by an acceleration of the air stream to eliminate variations in air velocity and to maximize air velocity at the point of impact with the fuel.
Claims19
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, and a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged as an expanding cone of predetermined angle, said discharge orifice being axially beyond the downstream end of said central air passage and being of diameter greater than that of the downstream end of said central air passage such that the outer layer of the expanding air cone impinges on the swirling fuel where it emerges as a conical fuel sheet from said discharge orifice.
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged as an expanding cone of predetermined angle to impinge on the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice;
- and an outer annular air passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which the inner layer of air is directed angularly toward the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, the air passages and discharge orifice providing an air/fuel mass flow ratio between about 0.5 and 4.
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged as an expanding cone of predetermined angle to impinge on the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, and an outer annular air passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which the inner layer of air is directed angularly toward the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, the air velocities from the downstream ends of said central air passage and annular air passage being approximately equal.
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged at an expanding cone of predetermined angle to impinge on the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, and an outer annular air passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which the inner layer of air is directed angularly toward the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, the air passages and discharge orifice providing an air/fuel mass flow ratio of about 1.
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged as an expanding cone of predetermined angle to impinge on the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, and an outer annular air passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which the inner layer of air is directed angularly toward the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice;
- the ratio of mass flow rate of air from said annular air passage and said central air passage being between 1 and 2.
An air-atomizing fuel nozzle comprising a nozzle body assembly defining therewithin a fuel passage having a discharge orifice at its downstream end and having a vortex chamber to impart a whirling motion to the fuel flowing through said passage for discharge from said discharge orifice in the form of a conical sheet, a central air passage within said fuel passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which air is discharged as an expanding cone of predetermined angle to impinge on the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, and an outer annular air passage having swirl means and having a downstream end from which the inner layer of air is directed angularly toward the conical fuel sheet as it emerges from said discharge orifice, said central air passage being of axial length of from about one and one-half to two times its diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.