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The quasi-steady diffusion flame structure in droplet burning is analysed, in the limit of large acti-
vation energy, for a one-step Arrhenius reaction in the gas phase. The characteristic ignition-extinction
S-shaped curve is produced with segments of it corresponding to a neatly frozen flow regime, a partial
burning regime, a premixed flame regime, and a nearly equilibrium regime. Critical Damk6hler num-
bers for ignition and extinction, as well as correction factors to the mass evaporation rate due to f'mite
activation energy, are obtained. Close mathematical and physical analogies exist between the present
problem and the counterflow problem recently analysed by Li~dn such that through appropriate
transformations most of his numerical results can be readily utilized.
In the above equations, y o is the oxidizer mass in T s. It can be shown, however, that such a
fraction divided by the stoichiometric mass ratio change results in a uniform increase in the tem-
v of the oxidizer to the fuel, r' is the radial dis- perature distribution in the frozen region by a
tance, and v', the radial velocity, L ' is the constant amount equal to the perturbed part of
specific heat of vaporization, W; is the molecular I s , and does not affect the ignition conditions
weight of species L ~' is the gas constant, and determined therein.
Ta, the activation energy for the gas phase
reaction. Subscripts s and o. denote conditions C. Reduced Governing Equations
at droplet surface and ihfinity, respectively. Defining
The boundary conditions for Eq. (1) are
x = 1 - exp(-M/r), (14)
r = O*: y o "= O£ , (7)
and using the Shvab-Zhedovich approach, Y o and
yF=0, (8) Y F can be expressed as functions of T and x. The
analysis is then reduced to the solution of a
T=TO*; (9) single second-order differential equation for T as
r=l: dy o/dr = M y o , (1 O)
Close resemblance exists between the reduced where e is an appropriate small parameter of ex-
governing equations of the present formulation pansion and the index i signifies the perturbation
and those of the counterflow problem [4]. The order. Xflame is the location of the flame in the
production term in Eq. (15) differs mainly in the zeroth order approximation. The constants a/and
expression for x as a result of different flow con- b i are to be found through matching with the
figurations. The absence of the T a term in the inner solutions of the flame region.
denominator, in the counterflow problem, is due Finally, expressing M as
to the assumption of a constant density flow.
Whereas this extra T 2 term in Eq. (15) does not
M = o~ eiM., (26)
complicate the ensuring mathematical derivation, i=0 z
it can be easily removed by allowing B' to be
proportional to T '2. and by using Eqs. (22), (23) and (25), the i th per-
We further note that in both cases the
turbation to the mass evaporation rate can be
boundary conditions for the differential equa-
found. In particular the zeroth and first order
tions for T are the values of T specified at the expressions are
two boundaries, although now the fuel is located
at x s < 1 instead of at 1. Finally, the expressions
Mo=ln{l+(ao-Ts)/L}, (27)
f o r y o andy F are identical in both cases. The
parameter/3, which is the difference in the
boundary temperatures in the counterflow M l = % I(a o + L - Ts). (28)
problem, is now increased by an amount L due
to the additional heat needed for vaporization. In the following we shall determine the asympto-
tic solutions of Eqs. (15), for large values of
D. Temperature Distribution in the Diffusive-Convective Ta/Tflame, with a, 13,L and Too being known
Regions and of the order of unity, and with the DamkiShler
The production term in Eq. (15) is expected to number ranging from zero to infinity. The bound-
be important in a flame zone where T is high, ary conditions for Eq. (15) for the flame zone
hence the exponential term is not small. However, analysis are obtained through matching with the
a slight reduction in T by moving away from this outer solutions given by Eqs. (24) and (25).
diffusive-reactive region of high temperature will
freeze the chemical reactions, therefore rendering
the production term exponentially small. In IlL Flame Structure Analysis
these regions the transport of mass and heat are The four types of diffusion flame structures
by diffusion and convection only. Furthermore, identified by Lifi~n [4] for the counterflow
Eq. (15) indicates that the temperature is linear problem also exist for droplet evaporation. When
in x, in such cases, to all orders of perturbation. a reduced Damkbhler number is properly defined
Evaluating such a temperature expression at x = 0 for each of the four regimes, the derivation and
and x = x s for the regions in the oxidizer and solutions for both problems are identical with
the fuel sides of the flame, respectively, and by the only exception of the first and higher order
Using Eqs. (22) and (23), the following general solutions for the nearly frozen regime. Hence
expressions are obtained [6], in the following only those solutions that are
different from Ref. [4] will be elaborated, the
rest will only be briefly discussed.
T=T,~+ b x, for(Xflame--x)/e>>l, (24) In the limit of Ta ~ 0% three types of zeroth
order flows are possible, depending on if both
and the fuel and oxidizer, or if only one of them,
exist in the flow field. Lifi~n called the first
r=(roo-13) + / ~ eia/~ (l-x), for(x-Xflame)/e~>>l, case as frozen flow and the latter two as
\i=0 )/ (25) equilibrium flows (with eithery ° = 0 or YF = 0).
ASYMPTOTIC THEORY FOR DROPLET BURNING 93
°I
~11 I I I A°|
I I t J I
Eq. (15) becomes "0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
x
x 4 (d 2 01/dx 2) = -A(x-O,) exp(0,-3x), (31) Fig. 1. Typical solutions of the function 01(X) for/3 = 0.3
and various A's.
where A is the reduced Damkbhler number
obtained, as is shown in Fig. 3. For small values of
(1-/3), Lifidn [8] has shown that an excellent
A = a D o (eToo) "2 exp(-Ta/Too) (32)
approximation for AI is
and D O is the zeroth order expansion of D.
Matching Eq. (30) with the outer solutions
A, = (I +o.531t~)/(I-~) (36)
Eqs. (24) and (25), and by using Eq. (27), we
obtain the boundary conditions for Eq. (31) as
Therefore for a given t, an ignition Damkbhler
o, (0) = o, (33) number D o can be determined by substituting the
value of AI found from either Fig. 3 or Eq. (36)
(dO ~NX)X_~o
o = O, (34) into Eq. (32).
The case o f t = O(e) and x = O(1) analysed by
as well as the perturbation in the mass evapora- Lifidn was not found to exist in the present prob-
tion rate lem. The expressions for d2Ol/dx2 are singular
94 C.K. LAW
at x = 0 for both problems, but the singularity is The temperature perturbation in the frozen flow
milder for the counterflow problem, hence con- region towards the oxidizer side is
vergence of the solutions to 01 (0) = 0 apparently
is possible. For the present case the singularity is B 1 = 2 { ( a + {O/Yob + ([3- I )/Y Fb
much stronger (d2 0 Jd.x 2 ~ x "3, as x ~ 0),
rendering convergence impossible. - 2 [1+ 2/ln(1-xb) ] /(1-Xb) }. (39)
B. Partial Burning Regime With Ao and B t defined by Eqs. (37) and (39), it
In this regime a weakly burning flame separates can be shown that Eqs. (41) and (42) of Ref. [4]
two regions of frozen flows such that leakage of are now respectively replaced by
both reactants through the flame is possible to
all orders of the analysis. The present analysis is
DbYobYFb exp(-Ta/T b)
identical with that of Ref. [4] and will not be
repeated. The reduced Damk6hler number is now
given by = (ra[2) 1-Xb)(rb-Too)/x b
l
Ao ={DbYobYFb exp ('Ta/Tb)}/ [ln(1-Xb)]4exp(-*m ), (40)
and /
Ol{eO)
109
6
5
1
2 I ! I I i t It I l I I I I llll l l I I I I TM l i I i I I i Jl
2 3 4 5 6789100 2 3 4 5 6789101 2 3 4 $ 67891u ~ 2 3 4 5 6789103
2--
AI
! /
10C
~1 ~2 ~3 ~4 ~5 ~6 ~7 ~8 ~9
Fig. 3. Ignition Damk6hler number, AI, vs ~, for the nearly frozen regime.
where
[Tp (1-xp)2 ( l n (1-xp)) 41 I , (43)
m = 1 -(Tp-Too+~), (51)
such that Eq. (59) of Ref. [4], which relates the
flame temperature Tp with the Damkt~hler num- and
ber Dp, is now replaced by
Tp = Too + (1-/3)xp. (52)
Btp'Fpexp(-Ta/rp)
Since for this case the problem is posed such
that there is no temperature perturbation in the
frozen region of the fuel side, the mass evapora-
= (1/2) iv n( tion rate is given, to all orders, by
sions on the implications of the analysis can be Equation (60) is just the classical flame sheet re-
found in Ref. [4]. sult for bipropellant droplet combustion (see, for
example, Ref. [9] ). The term lira (/~1-[) as func-
D. Near Equilibrium,Diffusion Flame, Regime
In this regime, to lowest order of approximation, tion of 8o for various 3' can be found in Fig. 11
the flame acts as a complete sink for both the of Ref. [4].
fuel and the oxidizer. For higher orders slight
leakage of both reactants are possible, and is IV. Conclusions
Exact mathematical correspondence between the
responsible for extinction. Complete agreement
is obtained with the counterflow problem when present droplet problem and the counterflow
the reduced DamkOhler number is defined as problem of Lift,in exist for the partial burning,
premixed flame, and near equilibrium regimes by
properly identifying a corresponding reduced
60 ={4Do(T2e/Ta)a/Te2/~n(l+ot)] 4}
Damkt~hler number in each case. For the near
frozen regime, due to effects of different geome-
exp(-Ta/Te), (56) tries, close but not exact correspondence was
found for the case x = O(e) and/3 = O(1). The
where the adiabatic flame temperature is case x = O(1) and/3 = O(e) obtained by Lifi~inwas
not found to exist in the present problem.
Te = T.. + (1-/3)a/(1 +~,). (57) Such close analogy is expected since both
problems involve non-premixed burning in one-
Lifi~n obtained an approximate analytic ex- dimensional flow. The effects of different geome-
pression for the reduced extinction Damkt~hier tries can be mostly eliminated through proper
number transformations whereas the presence of the con-
densed phase evaporation process is accounted
8oF, = e { (1-7) - (1-3') 2 + 0.26(1-3,) 3 for by incorporating the heat of vaporization L
in the boundary temperature difference parame-
+ 0.055(1-3,)4}, (58) ter/3.
From results of present analysis and also those
which agrees very closely with his numerical from Ref. [4], ignition and extinction criteria
results, where for a given droplet in a known atmosphere can
be established. Correction factors to the mass
7 = 2(a+/3)/(I +a) - 1 (59) evaporation rate due to finite activation energy
are also obtained.
is twice the ratio of the heat loss towards the
oxidizer side to the heat release at the flame.
Hence by equating Eqs. (56) and (58) an extinc- This prelect was initiated at the University of
tion DamkOhler number can be found. California at San Diego under the supervision of
The zeroth and first order mass evaporation Professor F. A. Williams, to whom the author is
rates are grateful for invaluable advice received throughout
the entire investigation. The funding in this period
Me=ln{(ct+/3)/L}, (60) was provided by the Air Force Office of Scienttfic
Research, Office of Aerospace Research, U.S. Air
and Force under Grant AFOSR- 72-2333. The work
was completed after the author ]oined his present
M 1 = 26ol/3 (1 +7) "1 lim (ill -~)' (61) affiliation. The author also wishes to thank Pro-
lessor A. Lihdn of lNTA, Madrid, Spain for
several stimulating and educational communica-
where ~ is the inner variable for expansion. tions concerning this problem.
98 C.K. LAW
References
1. Sanchez Tarifa, C., Pezez Del Notmio, P., and 6. Law, C. K., An Asymptotic Analysis on Ignition and
Ga~cia Moreno, F., Combustion of Liquid Mono- Extinction of Hydrocarbon Droplets, GMR Research
propellants and Bipropellants in Droplets, Eighth Publication 1614 (1974).
Symposium (International) on Combustion, William 7. Williams,F. A., On The Assumptions Underlying
and Wilkins, Baltimore (1962), pp. 1035-1053. Droplet Vaporization and Combustion Theories, Z
2. Peskin, R. L., and Wise, H., Ignition and Deflagration Chem. Phys, 33 (No. 1), 133-144 (1960).
of Fuel Drops, AIAA J. 4, 1646-1650 (1966). 8. Liq~n, A., personal communications.
3. Kassoy, D. R., and Williams, F. A., Effects of Chemi- 9. Williams,F. A., Combustion Theory, Addison-Wesley,
cal Kinetics on Near Equilibrium Combustion in Reading (1965).
Nonpremixed Systems, Phys, Fluids 11, 1343-1351 10. Fendeli, F. E., Ignition and Extinction on Combustion
(1968), see alsoPhys. Fluids 12, 265-267 (1969). of Initially Unmixed Reactants, J. FluM Mech. 21,
4. Linen, A., The Asymptotic Structure of Counterflow 293-303 (1965).
Diffusion Flames for Large Activation Energies, Acta 11. Lee, E. S., Quasilinearization and lnvariant Imbedding,
Astronautica 1 (No. 7-8), 1007-1039 (1974). Academic Press, New York (1968), Chap. 2.
5. Krishnamurthy, L., and Williams,F. A., Asymptotic
Theory of Diffusion Flame Extinction in the
Stagnation-Point Boundary Layer, unpublished work. Received May 21, 1974; revised October 4, 1974