A model for the combustion of oil/water emulsion droplets

Abstract The vaporization and combustion characteristics of an oil/water emulsion droplet are investigated by analyzing the multicomponent heat and mass transport processes in the gas phase and the gasification of an immiscible liquid mixture at the gas-liquid interface. Results substantiate and quantify the potential reductions in soot and NOx formation through water emulsification and demonstrate that the embedded water micro-droplets can indeed be heated to the limit of superheat such that fragmentation of the emulsion droplet due to the internal pressure build-up can be achieved. It is further shown that the occurrence of this micro-explosive event is enhanced by increasing the ambient pressure and that at 1 atmosphere the fuel's boiling point has to be at least as high as that of n-hexadecane in order to achieve micro-explosion.