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Lagrangian Particle Tracking In Crossflow Evaporation And Combustion of n-Heptane Droplets

Modeling the trajectory, evaporation, and combustion lifespan of n-heptane droplets injected into a high-temperature subsonic crossflow using a Lagrangian particle tracking approach
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Mirko

Project Timeline

Feb 2025 - Jun-2025

HighlightS

  • Lagrangian Particle Tracking: Modeled the post-breakup trajectory, mass depletion, and lifetime of n-heptane fuel droplets injected into a subsonic crossflow
  • Thermochemical Crossflow Modeling: Utilized NASA-CEA to accurately simulate the thermodynamic properties of the hot crossflow environment
  • Droplet Size & Breakup Estimation: Analytically computed the spray's Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) at 20.7~mu m utilizing Lefebvre’s correlation, and estimated the column fracture breakup (BU) distance based on liquid Weber numbers.
  • Evaporation vs. Combustion Trade-off: Proved that the introduction of combustion shortens the droplet lifespan from 1.88 ms down to 1.66 ms due to drastically enhanced heat and mass transfer rates.
  • Statistical Spray Dispersion Modeling: Executed advanced multi-droplet simulations applying a Gaussian distribution to droplet diameters (10% and 20% standard deviations). Proved that higher size variance directly increases spray penetration and extends the overall evaporation timeline for larger droplets.

SKILLS

MATLAB
NASA CEA
Lagrangian Particle Tracking
Atomization & Droplet Breakup Mechanics

External Links

Project Report

Problem Statement

This report investigates the evaporation and combustion of n-heptane droplets injected into a subsonic crossflow of exhaust gases resulting from the stoichiometric combustion of air and Jet-A1 enriched with 20%wt hydrogen.

The analysis focuses on the trajectory and lifetime of a single droplet, initially considering pure evaporation and subsequently including combustion effects.

In the final section, a droplet population with diameters following a Gaussian distribution is analyzed under identical injection conditions.

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