Interaction of the burning spherical droplets in oxygen-enriched turbulent environment

Abstract

Three-dimensional numerical studies on the interaction of vaporizing and burning droplets were conducted to understand the burning characteristics of multiple droplets in a turbulent environment. The burning droplets characteristics, such as lifetime, surface temperature, vaporization, reaction, and burning rate were examined for various oxygen mole-fractions and geometrical arrangements of droplets. Results from a single droplet combustion test were first verified and validated against existing experimental data. Results indicate that turbulent intensity has a moderate effect on droplet burning rate. but not as prominent an effect as the oxygen mole-fraction. At high oxygen mole-fractions, droplet lifetime was short due to enhanced burning. It is shown that evaporation processes of multiple droplets are notably affected by the inter-space distance between droplets both in streamwise and spanwise directions. The burning rate as a function of oxygen mole-fraction and inter-space distance is determined and can be used as a guideline for future studies on spray combustion. (c) 2008 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.