A 3D CFD Modelling Study of a Diesel Oil Evaporation Device Operating in the Stabilized Cool Flame Regime

Abstract

Diesel fuel is used in a variety of technological applications due to its high energy density and ease of distribution and storage. Motivated by the need to use novel fuel utilization techniques, such as porous burners and fuel cells, which have to be fed with a gaseous fuel, a Diesel fuel evaporation device, operating in the “Stabilized Cool Flame” (SCF) regime, is numerically investigated. In this device, a thermo-chemically stable low-temperature oxidative environment is developed, which produces a well-mixed, heated air-fuel vapour gaseous mixture that can be subsequently fed either to premixed combustion systems or fuel reformer devices for fuel cell applications. In this work, the ANSYS CFX 11.0 CFD code is used to simulate the three-dimensional, turbulent, two-phase, multi-component and reacting flow-field, developed in a SCF evaporation device. An innovative modelling approach, based on the fitting parameter concept, has been developed in order to simulate cool flame reactions. The model, based on physico-chemical reasoning coupled with information from available experimental data, is implemented in the CFD code and is validated by comparing numerical predictions to experimental data obtained from an atmospheric pressure, recirculating flow SCF device. Numerical predictions are compared with temperature measurements, achieving satisfactory levels of agreement. The developed numerical tool can effectively support the theoretical study of the physical and chemical phenomena emerging in practical devices of liquid fuel spray evaporation in a SCF environment, as well as the design optimisation process of such innovative devices.