Book Description

A detailed computational study of evaporation and combustion phenomena of unsupported and fiber-supported single and multi-component droplets is presented. The current study consists of a total of five parts: (a) study the effects of support fibers on the vaporization of single component n-heptane droplets, (b) study the effects of the Marangoni stress in single component n-heptane droplet combustion, (c) study the effects of support fibers in single component n-heptane droplet combustion, (d) study soot shell formation for single component n-heptane droplet, and (e) study multi-component n-heptane/n-hexadecane droplet evaporation and combustion. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method is employed in the studies to capture the liquid-gas interface for transient two-phase multidimensional flows. The calculations also include variable thermo-physical properties of the liquid and gas phases as well as Marangoni stresses. In the first part of the study, a detailed numerical investigation of the effects of support fibers on the vaporization of a fiber-supported n-heptane droplet in reduced gravity is presented. This part of the study also investigated the effects of the thickness of fiber, ambient pressure, and ambient temperature on droplet evaporation. The computational results were validated with experimental results. In the second part of the droplet combustion study, a detailed numerical investigation of the Marangoni effects for fiber supported n-heptane droplet combustion in reduced gravity is presented. A 21-step n-heptane reaction mechanism proposed by Machrafi et al. (2009) is incorporated to model the combustion with both low and high temperature chemistry. Predicted burning rates and flame diameters have been validated with data from drop tower experiments. The present computational results agree well with the experimental results. The primary focus in the third part of the study is on the effects of support fibers on the droplet burning rates and flame structure. A 21-step n-heptane reaction mechanism consisting of 20 species proposed by Zhang et al. (2013) is employed to model the combustion chemistry. Computed burning rates and flame stand-off ratios are compared with the experimental results of Jackson and Avedisian (1993). Predicted flame structures are also validated with the experimental results of Mikami et al. (1994). The present computational results agree well with the experimental results. The results indicate that the support fibers can have significant impact on droplet burning rates and flame structures. In the fourth part of the study, a detailed numerical investigation of unsupported and fiber supported n-heptane droplet combustion in reduced gravity is done to explore some important information i.e., the location of pyrolysis and soot shell using a complex multidimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis with a detailed reaction mechanism. A 25-step n-heptane mechanism consisting of 21 species is incorporated to model the combustion. The reaction mechanism is validated for the ignition delay time. Computed burning rates and flame stand-off ratios for both unsupported and fiber-supported droplets have been validated with prior computational and experimental studies. The computed soot shell stand-off ratios are validated by comparisons with experimental and computational results. The present computational results agree well with the experimental results.In the fifth and final part, a numerical study of vaporization and combustion of unsupported and fiber-supported multi-component n-heptane/n-hexadecane droplet is presented.