Droplet evaporation in a turbulent flow MICHAEL DODD, Stanford University, TREVOR HEDGES, ANTONINO FERRANTE, University of Washington Turbulence plays an important role in enhancing the droplet evaporation rate in combustion devices. However, a complete understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms for the enhancement is lacking. To increase our knowledge, we have performed numerical simulations of an evaporating fuel droplet in quiescent and turbulent conditions. The turbulent conditions are similar to those encountered in a diesel engine. Specifically, we consider a decane droplet in high pressure, isotropic turbulence. The turbulent Reynolds number based on the Taylor length scale is 47. The density and viscosity ratio between the fuel and air are 40 and 21.5, respectively. The initial fuel and air temperature are 900 K and 363 K, respectively. The simulations were performed on a 448^3 point mesh. The video shows visualizations of the fuel vapor as the droplet evaporates. The animations illustrate that turbulence enhances droplet evaporation by increasing the transport of fuel vapor away from the droplet surface. Understanding this physical mechanism is important for developing strategies for rapid and complete fuel droplet evaporation. Complete fuel droplet evaporation is an important criterion for the design and operation of cleaner (less polluting) and more efficient engines.
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