Analysis of Influence of Alumina Nanoparticles Addition on Diesel Fuel Droplets Evaporation in A Model Gas Turbine Combustion Chamber

In the present article, the influence of alumina nanoparticles addition on the evaporation of diesel fuel droplets in the combustion chamber of the gas turbine model has been numerically investigated. The nano-fuel, resulting from adding the alumina nanoparticles in volume fractions of 0.5 and 1 percent, has been considered as a single-phase fluid. To model the two-phase flow, which is consisted of fuel droplets and inlet air, the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is applied. In order to investigate the characteristics of the reactive spray flow, Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence approach, discrete ordinates radiation heat transfer model, and steady diffusion flamelet combustion model have been employed. Comparisons between the present results and the existing experimental data have been made to evaluate the obtained accuracy. The results show that, with the addition of alumina nanoparticles, the heat capacity and lifetime of fuel droplets are increased. Also, in the presence of nanoparticles, the penetration depth of the droplets increases, and droplets evaporate in further distances from the inlet boundary. This implies a reduction in the evaporation rate of fuel droplets in the presence of alumina nanoparticles.