A Numerical Study of the Unsteady Effects of Droplet Evaporation and Ignition in Homogeneous Environments of Fuel and Air

The transient processes of droplet heating, vaporization and ignition in a quiescent heated environment of a homogeneous mixture of air and fuel that is potentially combustible are analyzed. A system of partial differential equations that governs this hybrid diffusional-premixed processes is presented. The equations were solved numerically for an n-heptane droplet vaporizing in a homogeneous environment of methane and air. The effective reaction rate of the oxidation processes was assumed throughout to equal the sum of the reaction rates due to droplet and auxiliary fuels. The gross reaction rates used in the model for the droplet and auxiliary fuels were obtained from curve fitting of reaction rates results obtained from detailed chemical kinetics for the two fuels system. It is to be shown, for example, that the presence of an auxiliary fuel with the air in the surrounding environment of the droplet enhances the rates of the ignition/combustion processes of the droplet.