A Hydrocarbon Droplet Evaporating in Turbulent Environment at Elevated Ambient Pressure and Temperature

Abstract

This study presents new experimental results on the vaporization process of hydrocarbon droplet in a turbulent environment at elevated ambient pressure and temperature conditions. n-Heptane and n-decane, which provide a wide range of hydrocarbons properties, were tested. The initial droplet diameter was on the order of 1 mm, and its surrounding ambient consisted of varying turbulence intensity up to 3.10 m/s, pressure up to 16 bar, and temperature up to 150°C. The results revealed that the hydrocarbon droplet followed the d2-law throughout its entire lifetime under all ambient conditions explored here. Increasing the ambient pressure increases the droplet vaporization lifetime, whereas increasing the ambient temperature reduces the droplet lifetime. More importantly, turbulence becomes more effective as ambient pressure increases, whereas it diminishes with increasing the ambient temperature. The experimental data were used to develop a more comprehensive hydrocarbons droplet mass transfer correlation.