Experimental and analytical studies on ignition of a single droplet and spray

Spray ignition is widely encountered in energy and power engineering and is an important characteristic in combustor operation and design. Droplet ignition is an important part of spray ignition. Most present studies of droplet and spray ignition use numerical simulation, which sometimes cannot explicitly indicate the mechanism of ignition and is inconvenient for engineering applications. This paper reports experimental and analytical studies on ignition of a single droplet and spray under different flow conditions. Analytical results based on a one-dimensional model are compared with experimental results. The results reveal that the droplet ignition temperature decreases with an increase in the droplet size and increases with an increase in the relative gas velocity. The temperature of kerosene spray ignition by propane combustion products increases with an increase in the excess air and decreases with an increase in the droplet size. The obtained research results are useful for liquid-fueled combustor design and operation.