Evaluation of breakup process of diesel fuel spray by micro probe L2F

A laser 2-focus velocimeter (L2F) was used for measurements of velocity and size of droplets in diesel sprays. The L2F has a micro-scale probe which consists of two foci. The focal diameter is about 3μm, and the distance between two foci is 18μm. The data acquisition rate of the L2F was increased to 15 MHz in order to capture every droplet appearing in the measurement volume. Diesel fuel was injected intermittently into the atmosphere using a 5-hole injector nozzle. The diameter of the nozzle orifice was 0.113mm. The injection pressure was set at 80 and 120MPa by using a common rail system and the ambient pressure was varied from 0.1 to 3MPa. The period of injector solenoid energizing was set at 3.0ms. Droplets were evaluated in a period of 0.2ms just after the spray tip passed the measurement position. Measurement positions were located at 6, 9 and 12 mm from the nozzle exit. The effect of ambient pressure on the droplet velocity in the near-nozzle region was unremarkable. It was clearly shown that the droplet size was decreased with the increase of ambient pressure. The droplet breakup might be enhanced by the increase in the ambient density. It was found that the rate of decrease in Weber number along the distance of droplet flight had a strong relation with Weber number under various ambient pressures and injection pressures.