In this study, the breakup characteristics of secondary atomization of an emulsified fuel droplet were investigated with a single droplet experiment. In the single droplet experiment, the emulsified fuel droplet suspended from a fine wire was inserted into an electric furnace, and then secondary atomization behavior was observed using a high-speed video camera. Moreover, a mathematical model to calculate the generated water vapor at micro-explosion was proposed by using the mass and energy conservation equations under some assumptions. In the proposed model, that can be calculated by using the inner droplet temperature history at micro-explosion. As a result, puffing and micro-explosion occurred even when the fine ceramics fiber was used. The proposed model showed that about 50-70 wt% of water in the emulsified fuel changed to water vapor instantaneously at the occurrence of micro-explosion. The mass of water necessary for micro-explosion was shown. The breakup time was closely related to the superheat temperature just before the occurrence of micro-explosion. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.