STUDY OF IGNITION OF SOYABEAN OIL METHYL ESTER DROPLET IN A QUIESCENT ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The use of Vegetable Oil Methyl Ester (VME) has been proposed as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. Vegetable Oil Methyl Ester can be substituted directly for diesel oil with out any basic engine modification. There are some differences in the behavior of VME's as compared to diesel fuel which gives rise to an interest in their combustion behavior. In a diesel engine the fuel is injected at high pressure in a high temperature environment existing towards the end of the compression stroke. The injected fuel gets atomized, vaporizes and mixes with the surrounding air. The fuel air mixture ignites and initiates the combustion process. Thus ignition phenomenon is quite important in the diesel engine combustion. In the present work it is proposed to study the ignition of an isolated vegetable oil methyl ester in a stagnant environment. Such a study is considered first step towards understanding the complex phenomena of spray combustion. The work involves the modeling of liquid and gas-phases with the coupling at the gas-liquid interface. The coupled gas 'and liquid phase system of equations are solved numerically to determine Temperature profile inside the liquid droplet Temperature and density profiles in the gas-phase Mass fraction profiles of fuel and oxygen in the gas-phase Instantaneous mass flow rate profile and also the ignition delay time and location of the flame region were determined For solving the above equations Finite Difference Method is used. In the present work software has been developed in MAT LAB.