Investigation on the atomization characteristics and structure parameters of alcohol-based fuel in small stove

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, a set of small stoves was designed which is used for alcohol-based fuel combustion. The research object is the atomization process of alcohol-based fuel in the stove. By combining numerical analysis and experiment, this paper investigated the influence of spray pressure on the atomization characteristics of alcohol-based fuel in the stove under the static environment. The results showed that as the increase of spray pressure, the atomization cone angle increased firstly and then decreased slightly and when the spray pressure was 0.8 MPa, the atomization cone angle reached the maximum value of 79.5°; the SMD (Sauter mean diameter) at the same position of the combustion chamber decreased slowly and the spray height increased slowly and both of the SMD and spray height changed slightly when the spray pressure was not less than 0.8 MPa. The experiment verified the correctness of the numerical analysis method, and the coincidence degree between both was more than 92%. This paper also investigated the influence of swirl structure parameters on the atomization characteristics of fuel in the stove under air distribution condition by using numerical analysis method. The results showed that the air central recirculation zone only generated in the stove combustion chamber when the swirl angle was not less than 30°; the minimum SMD and the maximum average velocity of all central recirculation zones sections were obtained when the combustion chamber with 12 swirl plates and 45° swirl angle, and the atomization characteristics of the fuel in this structure were better. Further research showed that when the combustion chamber with 6 swirl plates and 40° swirl angle, the SMD of all the central recirculation zone sections is the smallest and the average velocity was slightly smaller than the maximum value; and after comprehensive analysis, the atomization characteristics of the fuel in the stove with this structure are the best. These above research results will provide reference value for the design and development of alcohol-based fuel special stoves.