A Numerical Study on Droplet Evaporation using Mass and Heat Transfer Approach

Abstract

Liquid fuel is injected into many combustion devices like engines, boilers, and gas turbines where it evaporates, mixes with air, and finally burns. The combustion process influences by evaporation and corresponding air-fuel mixing. Hence, the evaporation study of the fuel droplets is important in different thermodynamic conditions. In the present paper, fuel droplet evaporation has been numerically studied by two different approaches i.e., mass transfer and heat transfer. Multiple case studies have been conducted by varying the droplet surface temperature, its initial diameter, and the temperature of ambiance to understand the influence of each parameter on the evaporation process by the two different concepts. Transfer numbers (B), evaporation constants (K), and droplet lifetime are obtained through both heat and mass transfer models. These observations are highly helpful to understand the droplet evaporation process and comparing the two different approaches to droplet evaporation modeling.