Combustion and Flame, Vol.129, No.3, 281-293, 2002
Modeling of turbulent spray combustion with application to diesel like experiment
Turbulent combustion within sprays has been studied. Experiment and theory predict that the presence of fuel droplets leads to an increase in the fluctuations of temperature and equivalence ratio. and that these fluctuations must he considered to correctly estimate the mean reaction rate. A convenient way to describe the fluctuations of the medium is to compute the probability density function of all the fluctuating variables for the gas and liquid phases. The method used to derive the probability density function (PDF) equation,, in a pure gaseous medium was extended to two-phase flows by using the local equations written in terms of distribution functions. The PDF for the liquid phase contained complex unclosed terms representing dispersion and atomization. Instead of modeling these terms, we have used a stochastic Lagrangian simulation of the liquid droplets which employs classical atomization models and assumes spherical droplets. This method is used to close the vaporization terms which appear in the PDF equation for the gas. The PDF equation for the gas-phase could be solved by using a Monte-Carlo method but here we have used a more tractable model based on a presumed PDF shape for the mixture fraction. The effects of finite rate chemistry were taken into account by using the MIL model, Finally, the complete model was used to simulate auto-ignition and the establishment of a flame in a diesel type experiment. The auto-ignition delay and the shape of the flame were well simulated. The importance of taking into account the influence of the droplets on the fluctuations is demonstrated by testing the model with and without the corresponding terms.