Effect of Injected Longitudinal Vorticity on Particle Dispersion in a Swirling, Coaxial Jet

Abstract

A Passive particle dispersion control technique was investigated in which longitudinal vortices were injected into a developing coaxial swirling jet with sufficient annular swirl for flow recirculation to occur. Four vortex generators, separated by 90 degrees and placed along the outside of the annular nozzle, injected vorticity opposite in sign to the mean swirl, significantly altering the structure of the swirling jet. The injected vorticity competed with the mean swirl to reduce azimuthal particle flinging and to disrupt the development of the vortex rings in the outer shear layer. Axial flow visualization showed the formation of axial structures at the forcing frequency but considerable azimuthal asymmetry. Horizontal cross sections showed a four-lobed structure which persisted in the natural jet for at least eight inner jet diameters. The particle concentration field was measured using digital processing of pulsed laser sheet images. Outward radial particle dispersion reduced while inward dispersion toward the jet centerline increased indicating that the injected vorticity sufficiently reduced particle flinging by large-scale vortices.