ME 569 HW #4 Due: 24 October 2014

Droplet vaporization can be calculated by considering either species or energy conservation alone; the two solutions
are coupled through the liquid-vapor equilibrium at the surface. Consider the steady-state solution of the
vaporization rate, _ m
f
, obtained from the species conservation equation with an assumed Y
fs
. The solution of the
energy conservation equation, which depends on the convective flux associated with _ m
f
, must provide a heat flux to
the droplet that equals the enthalpy of vaporization _ m
f
h
fg
of the droplet. If this condition is not fulfilled, the
assumed droplet temperature is incorrect and an iterative procedure must be undertaken to find the liquid
temperature that satisfies this condition.

The effect of transient droplet heating can be accounted for using a similar approach. A droplet at some initial
temperature has a vapor-phase mass fraction at the surface that drives a mass flux. Based on this mass flux, the
solution to the energy conservation equation in the gas phase gives the temperature profile. At the droplet surface
the temperature gradient provides the heat flux to the droplet. In the unsteady case there will be a net heat flux to, or
from, the droplet. By assuming that the liquid is a lumped system, a simple energy balance can be performed to
allow the simultaneous solution of the transient droplet temperature.

In the following consider a 100 m diameter droplet of n-heptane in an infinite environment of air; full property data
for n-heptane are available in EES. (If you have issues with the temperature range of the vapor-phase thermal
conductivity, let me know). You should use the appropriate average gas-phase property data in the solution.

a) For an initial droplet temperature of 300 K and a system pressure of 101.3 kPa, evaluate the final droplet
temperature, the time to reach a steady-state droplet temperature
1
, and the droplet lifetime as a function of
ambient temperature (400 < T [K] < 1000).

b) For an ambient temperature of 1000 K and a pressure of 101.3 kPa, evaluate the final droplet temperature, the
time to reach a steady-state droplet temperature, and the droplet lifetime as a function of initial droplet
temperature (280 < Td,init [K] < 360).

c) For an ambient temperature of 1000 K and an initial droplet temperature of 300 K , evaluate the final droplet
temperature, the time to reach a steady-state droplet temperature, and the droplet lifetime as a function of
pressure (101.3 < P [kPa] < 1000).



1
You can estimate the time to reach the steady-state temperature as