A phenomenological model for predicting entropy generation during vaporization of droplets in engine fuel sprays

Modern internal combustion (IC) engines employ a variety of injection techniques for preparing a combustible mixture of fuel and air. In a fuel injection-based system, the vaporization of the atomized hydrocarbon fuel droplets has significant influence on engine performance and emissions. The entropy generation associated with droplet vaporization is particularly important as it is directly related to the destruction of exergy i.e. the potential to produce useful work. Since a fuel spray could involve millions of droplets, solving the entire set of governing equations for individual droplets in a spatiotemporally discretized domain is impractical. The present work explores the utility of a simple phenomenological model in predicting the entropy generation history. The results indicate that this model ensures computational efficiency without much sacrifice in accuracy. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.