Steady State Analysis of Nanofuel Droplet ‎Evaporation

The potential for nanofuels as one of the clean sources of energy on account of its enhanced combustion performance coupled with low emissions has been established. Considering the importance of the fuel evaporation phase in the entire combustion process, this work presents an attempt at applying the steady state analysis equations to nanofuel experimental data obtained from the literature in droplet evaporation analysis. The evaporation parameters considered included the rate, constant value (k), the droplet lifetime as well as the D2 Law response. The extent of applicability of the steady state analysis model equations to nanofuel droplet evaporation was investigated using nanofuel experimental data consisting of ethanol and alumina nanoparticles as well as n-decane and alumina nanoparticles with particle concentration ranging from 0.5-2.5%. The evaporation rate was found to decrease with increasing nanoparticle addition while the droplet lifetime increased marginally, thus validating experimentally obtained result. The nanoparticle inclusion had no effect on the evaporation rate constant value (k) as it remained unchanged throughout the droplet evaporation progression, thus showing adherence to the Classical D2 Law.