A method and analysis was developed to quantify the amplitude of deterministic spray unsteadiness based on Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA), which sampled timedependent droplet velocity and size measurements, in order to determine the fluctuations of droplet data rate and number density, which are quantities relevant to fluctuations of droplet concentration. The data processing method of the PDA measurements was assessed in a pulsed spray at a frequency of 20 Hz injected in a swirl-stabilised burner. Comparisons between quantities relevant to droplet concentration fluctuations, measured by PDA and a light scattering technique, quantified the deterministic spray unsteadiness and agreed to within 15%.
The developed PDA approach was applied in the swirlstabilised burner to measure the amplitude of deterministic spray unsteadiness of an otherwise steady spray, which was caused by the instability of the atomisation process. The intensity of deterministic fluctuations of droplet data rate and number density, occurring at a frequency range around 600 Hz due to the atomisation process, was quantified to 15% of the corresponding mean value and this spray unsteadiness generated fluctuations on the air and droplet velocity fields. The deterministic spray unsteadiness could survive up to the end of the recirculation zone of the air flow at the burner exit and, therefore, could influence flame stability.