Patent ID: 8672234

Claim:
A fuel atomizer, comprising: a housing having a fuel inlet; at least one primary orifice positioned at the fuel inlet, the at least one primary orifice configured to disperse a stream of fuel into a plurality of fuel droplets; a fuel impingement surface against which the plurality of fuel droplets contact to break up the plurality of fuel droplets into a plurality of smaller secondary droplets and create a thin film of secondary fuel droplets on the fuel impingement surface, the impingement surface being arranged at an angle of greater than 0° and less than about 60° relative to a plane perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the housing; at least one pressurized air channel arranged at a radial angle in the range of about 30° to about 60° and a tangential angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the housing, and configured to deliver an airflow into contact with the secondary fuel droplets, the airflow creating a vortex flow within the housing, the airflow breaking up the thin film of secondary fuel droplets at a peripheral edge of the fuel impingement surface to reduce a size of the secondary droplets; a plurality of secondary orifices through which the secondary droplets pass to exit the housing, wherein a size of the plurality of secondary droplets is reduced when passing through the plurality of secondary orifices.