Simulation of coalescence and vaporization of kerosene fuel sprays in a turbulent jet - A sectional approach

Taking into account the effects of droplet coalescence, a simulation of downstream changes in droplet size spectrums of vaporizing kerosene fuel sprays in a turbulent jet is carried out. A combined Eulerian-Lagrangian sectional approach is used to avoid the dimensionality problem associated with the discrete form of population balance equations of the fuel-spray droplets. The theoretical results of the simulation are compared with the experimental data reported by Yule et al. (1983), and it is shown that under certain operating conditions coalescence significantly affects the downstream droplet size spectrum. Vaporization is found to be dominant at zones which are close to the edges of the jet, while coalescence is dominant very close to the jet's centerline.