Fuel Droplet Heating and Evaporation: New Hydrodynamic and Kinetic Models

Abstract

Recently developed approaches to the hydrodynamic and kinetic modelling of fuel droplet heating and evaporation are reviewed. Two new solutions to the heat conduction equation, taking into account the effect of the moving boundary during transient heating of an evaporating droplet, are discussed. The first solution is the explicit analytical solution to this equation, while the second one reduces the solution of the differential transient heat conduction equation to the solution of the Volterra integral equation of the second kind. It has been pointed out that the new approach predicts lower droplet surface temperatures and slower evaporation rates compared with the traditional approach. A simplified model for multi-component droplet heating and evaporation, based on the analytical solution of the species diffusion equation inside droplets, is discussed. A new algorithm, based on simple approximations of the kinetic results for droplet radii and temperatures, suitable for engineering applications, is discussed.