TY - JOUR
T1 - An experimental investigation on the vaporization and combustion of methanol and ethanol droplets
AU - Lee, A.
AU - Law, Chung King
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Army Research Officeand the Officeof Naval Research under the technical monitoring of Dr David Mann (ARO) and Dr Gabriel Roy (ONR) respectively. Present address of A. Lee: Detroit Diesel Corporation, Detroit, MI 48239-4001, U.S.A.
PY - 1992/11/1
Y1 - 1992/11/1
N2 - The vaporization and combustion of freely-falling methanol and ethanol droplets in dry and humid environments has been studied experimentally. From time-resolved data of the droplet size and composition, it is demonstrated that water vapor, either from the ambience or generated at the flame, can freely condense at the droplet surface and subsequently dissolve into the droplet interior. The associated condensation heat release and dilution of the droplet alcohol concentration can significantly modify the gasification behavior from that of the d2-law. Specifically, droplet gasification is characterized by an initial period during which the gasification rates of methanol and the entire droplet are enhanced due to the condensation heat release, an intermediate period during which water vapor still condenses although the overall droplet gasification rate is retarded due to water build-up, and a final, slow-gasification period during which the initially condensed water is gasified. The stucy further demonstrates that the alcohol droplets can sustain diffusional combustion even with substantial amounts of water dilution, and identifies a neutral state of water condensation/gasification such that the associated data can be advantageously used for numerical modeling of alcohol droplet combustion.
AB - The vaporization and combustion of freely-falling methanol and ethanol droplets in dry and humid environments has been studied experimentally. From time-resolved data of the droplet size and composition, it is demonstrated that water vapor, either from the ambience or generated at the flame, can freely condense at the droplet surface and subsequently dissolve into the droplet interior. The associated condensation heat release and dilution of the droplet alcohol concentration can significantly modify the gasification behavior from that of the d2-law. Specifically, droplet gasification is characterized by an initial period during which the gasification rates of methanol and the entire droplet are enhanced due to the condensation heat release, an intermediate period during which water vapor still condenses although the overall droplet gasification rate is retarded due to water build-up, and a final, slow-gasification period during which the initially condensed water is gasified. The stucy further demonstrates that the alcohol droplets can sustain diffusional combustion even with substantial amounts of water dilution, and identifies a neutral state of water condensation/gasification such that the associated data can be advantageously used for numerical modeling of alcohol droplet combustion.
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U2 - 10.1080/00102209208947198
DO - 10.1080/00102209208947198
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0026962012
SN - 0010-2202
VL - 86
SP - 253
EP - 265
JO - Combustion science and technology
JF - Combustion science and technology
IS - 1-6
ER -