Direct numerical simulation was used for fundamental studies of the ignition of turbulent n-heptane liquid-fuel spray jets. A chemistry mechanism with 33 species and 64 reactions was adopted to describe the chemical reactions. The Eulerian method is employed to solve the carrier-as flow field and the Lagrangian method is used to track the liquid-fuel droplets. Two-way coupling interaction is considered through the exchange of mass, momentum, and energy between the carrier-gas fluid and the liquid-fuel spray. The initial carrier-gas temperature was 1500 K. Six cases were simulated with different droplet radii (from 10 to 30 pm) and two initial velocities (100 and 150 m/s). From the simulations, it was found that evaporative cooling and turbulence mixing play important roles in the ignition of liquid-fuel spray jets. Ignition first occurs at the edges of the jets where the fuel mixture is lean, and the scalar dissipation rate and the vorticity magnitude are very low. For smaller droplets, ignition occurs later than for larger droplets due to increased evaporative cooling. Higher initial droplet velocity enhances turbulence mixing and evaporative cooling. For smaller droplets, higher initial droplet velocity causes the ignition to occur earlier, whereas for larger droplets, higher initial droplet velocity delays the ignition time. (C) 2007 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.