Comparative Investigation on Droplet Evaporation Models for Modeling Spray in Cross-Flow

The coupling model of flow and heat and mass transfer for gas-spray droplet two-phase flow has been developed to simulate the evaporating spray in cross-flow. The correlations used for describing the droplet evaporation and motion in convective flow have been compared. The comparisons of calculated results show that the different correlations for determining Nusselt number and Sherwood number impose a significant influence on the lifetime of droplet. The modification of Nusselt number and Sherwood number with regard to the heat and mass boundary around the droplet is of great importance, while different mixing laws for mixture properties and different drag coefficient equations only demonstrate a slight effect on the evaporation characteristics of droplet. The characteristics of spray droplets and cross-flow in terms of both evaporation and motion are obtained. The secondary flow phenomenon is observed in the simulation results and contributes to achieving a more even distribution of temperature and an improved mixing effect of the vapor and cross-flow.