Ignition and Combustion of Liquid Fuel Droplet in a Convective Medium

Abstract

A mathematical model of droplet combustion in surroundings of hot gas with a uniform free stream motion is made from the numerical solution of the conservation equations of heat, mass and momentum in both the carrier and droplet phases. The gas phase chemical reaction between fuel vapor and oxidizer is assumed to be a single-step irreversible one. The phenomena of ignition is recognized by the sudden rise of temperature in the temperature-time histories at different locations in the carrier phase. The relative influences of pertinent input parameters, namely initial Reynolds number Rei , ratio of free stream to initial drop temperature T∞ , and the ambient pressure on: (i) the ignition time lag, (ii) extinction characteristics, and (iii) life histories of burning fuel drops have been established.