A numerical tool for the simulation of a diesel spray "stabilized cool flame" reactor

Abstract

Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 30 June - 2 July, 2008.

A numerical investigation of the turbulent, multi-component and reactive flow-field that develops in a Stabilized Cool Flame Diesel fuel spray evaporation system, using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code is presented. The physical and chemical phenomena are described by solving the respective mass, momentum, species, thermal and turbulent energy conservation equations. A dedicated numerical model is developed, based on the fitting parameter concept, in order to describe in sufficient detail the thermo-chemical effects of cool flame reactions. The model is based on physico-chemical reasoning coupled with information from available experimental data and chemical kinetics simulations. The developed model is validated and evaluated by comparing CFD predictions to experimental data from an atmospheric pressure, evaporating Diesel spray, Stabilized Cool Flame reactor. Temperature predictions are compared to measurements with satisfactory agreement. Computational results are used to obtain in-depth information about the complex flow-field developing in such innovative devices.