DIFFUSION-CONTROLLED EVAPORATION OF A MULTICOMPONENT DROPLET - THEORETICAL-STUDIES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VARIABLE LIQUID PROPERTIES

A well-known multicomponent droplet vaporization model, the Diffusion Limit Model, has been extended to account for property variations in the liquid phase. The model has been tested for typical conditions of modem gas turbine combustors. The results for a hexane/tetradecane droplet show that the temperature- and concentration-dependence of the liquid properties affect the vaporization process, especially with regard to a reduced diffusional resistance. Additionally, remarkable variations of the refractive index are observed yielding helpful information for the estimation of errors in optical particle sizing techniques. Regarding comprehensive spray calculations, the use of the constant property formulation is recommended with improved reference values based on variable property calculations.