Investigations of a Combustor Using a 9-Point Swirl-Venturi Fuel Injector: Recent Experimental Results

This paper explores recent results obtained during testing in an optically-accessible, JP8-fueled, flame tube combustor using baseline Lean Direct Injection (LDI) research hardware. The baseline LDI geometry has nine fuel/air mixers arranged in a 3 x 3 array. Results from this nine-element array include images of fuel and OH speciation via Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF), which describe fuel spray pattern and reaction zones. Preliminary combustion temperatures derived from Stokes/Anti-Stokes Spontaneous Raman Spectroscopy are also presented. Other results using chemiluminescence from major combustion radicals such as CH* and C2* serve to identify the primary reaction zone, while OH PLIF shows the extent of reaction further downstream. Air and fuel velocities and fuel drop size results are also reported.