Percolation in combusting sprays I: Transition from cluster combustion to percolate combustion in non-premixed sprays

Alan R. Kerstein, Chung K. Law

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Percolation theory, which addresses the connectedness of randomly-defined regions of space, is used to investigate the geometry of the flame surface of a combusting spray in the fast-chemistry, flame-sheet limit. In particular, percolation theory predicts the existence of two distinct combustion regimes in non-premixed sprays, regimes defined herein as "cluster combustion" and "percolate combustion." These regimes are natural generalizations of isolated droplet combustion and external group combustion respectively. The time evolution of the boundary between the two regimes is analyzed for a simple model problem, leading to predictions of the novel phenomena of flame expulsion and flame exclusion due to geometrical effects.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)961-969
Number of pages9
JournalSymposium (International) on Combustion
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1982
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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