화학공학소재연구정보센터
Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol.157, 35-51, 1997
Fuel vapor accumulation effect on the combustion characteristics of multicomponent fuel droplets
The effect of fuel vapor accumulation on the gasification behavior of a multicomponent fuel droplet has been investigated. Expressions for the droplet vaporization rate, flame front standoff ratio and other quantities of interest have been obtained by using a formulation that considers quasi-steady, diffusive-convective transport in the gas phase, and transient diffusive transport within the droplet. Results are presented for the combustion of a bicomponent heptane-decane fuel droplet. It is demonstrated that a significant amount of fuel vapor can be accumulated in the inner zone to the flame, which has a noticeable effect on the droplet gasification behavior since the fuel consumption rate is reduced compared to the vaporization rate. This has important implication for spray flames using multicomponent fuel droplets, since the fuel vapor accumulation can substantially modify the rates of interphase energy and mass transport rates, as well as the fuel vapor distribution in the flow field. Results also indicate that the fuel accumulation effect, combined with the effect of high liquid mass diffusional resistance (large Lewis number), leads to a self-sustained oscillation of the vaporization rate. The oscillation is unique to the multicomponent fuel droplet in that the accumulation effect does not cause any oscillation for a pure fuel droplet. The oscillatory behavior is also suppressed for a multicomponent fuel droplet for moderate values of liquid Lewis number with the accumulation effect, and for any values of liquid Lewis number without the accumulation effect.