Flow-Blurring Fuel Injection

Project

Tommy HarrisNicholas Chua

Vu DanhRyan FontenotHeath Headley

Advised by: Dr. Jiang

Team Name and Roles• Team FIDDLE (fuel injection design and

development leading engineers)• Ryan Fontenot – Team Leader• Nicholas Chua – Finance• Tommy Harris – Communications• Vu Danh – Construction• Heath Headley - Testing

To be covered• Fuel Injection Basics• Objectives of Project• Objective Execution• Equations and Theory• Experiment Plan/ Results

What is Fuel Injection?

Ways to Improve• Maximize surface production• Minimized droplet coalescence • Minimized gas expense

Flow-Blurring Fuel Injection

• Research done by Dr. Alfonso Gañán-Calvo• Chair of fluid mechanics at the University of

Seville

• Higher efficiency• Independent of viscosity

How Does It Work?• Takes advantage of turbulent air

currents• Occurs at certain height to

diameter ratio•

Potential Application• Turbines

• Viscous fuel compatibility

Goals• Design unique flow-focusing to flow-blurring

fuel injector using Solidworks• 3-D print design • Install leak-proof and reliable fuel and air

connections • Set up test lab with all necessary equipment• Outline experiment plan for relating spray

characteristics to ALR and H/D ratio

Goals• Conduct experiments and collect desired data• Organize data into neat and presentable form

Criteria• Offset distance must be adjustable• Fuel feed tube diameter must be either

adjustable or interchangeable• Injector nozzle must attach to some sort of

holder• All parts must be 3-D printable• Exit orifice diameter must equal fuel feed

tube diameter

Constraints• Material Constraints

• Limited to 3-D printable plastic like PLA or ABS

• Size Constraints • Must be as small as practicable• Compatible with a 1/16” NPT compression fitting • Compatible with a 3/8” NPT air hose adapter

Constraints• Financial Constraints

• budget limit of $500

• Time Constraints• 13 weeks from start to finish

First Design

Final Design

Fuel Inlet

Air Inlet

Air ChamberExit Orifice

Plastic Prototype

Injector Holder

Air Chamber

Detachable Fuel Nozzles

Plastic Prototype

Setting the Offset Distance

• Pitch: 1.5 mm/turn• The following table how much to turn nozzle

for testing H/D H (mm) Turns

0.09375 0.1875 (1/8)

0.1875 0.375 (1/4)

0.28125 0.5625 (3/8)

0.375 0.75 (1/2)

Gas to liquid mass Ratio (GLR)

• GLR = • High GLR → small droplet size and quick • Vaporization (for H/D ≤ 0.25)

Water Supply• Cole-Parmer Pump

• Flow rate can be set to an exact value

• Controls flow rate to a minimum of 0.6 ml/min

Air Supply• Craftsmen Air

Compressor• 125 PSI

Flow Meter• Key Instruments (Ki)

variable area flow meter• Measures from 1-10

SCFM

Testing Set Up

Test Procedures• Set offset distance for the fuel injector• Set the GLR for testing• Run the fuel injector and photograph for

documentation• Reiterate runs at differing GLR settings• Change the offset distance and repeat steps

Flow-Blurring

Flow-Focusing

Data Analysis

Conclusions• Flow-blurring atomization produces a smaller angle of

spray• This implies smaller droplet size

• Maximize surface production

• Flow-blurring enhances atomization

Recommendations• Alternate design to manufacture with metallic

material• Manufacture injector with transparent

material• Test with high speed camera

Questions??