DEVELOPMENT OF AN EULERIAN MULTI-FLUID MODEL FOR SPRAY APPLICATIONS IN OPENFOAM

The development of alternative fuels, such as solar fuels, lower-cost refinery fuels, heavy fuel oils, represents one of the main directions of internal combustion engine research. These modern fuels require a new modelling framework capable of predicting their multi-component behaviour in engine-like conditions. Therefore, the aim of this research is the development of a numerical model capable of predicting the dynamic behaviour of multi-component fuels in dense sprays. In the developed method, the polydisperse nature of the flow is handled using the method of classes in the Euler-Euler framework, where each droplet class is characterised by its own size and velocity. This approach treats every droplet class as a different phase in the calculation, which means that every droplet class has its momentum and continuity equation. The model assumes that all phases share the same mixture pressure. The interfacial momentum transfer between the gas and liquid phases is available through drag, lift, virtual-mass and turbulent dispersion forces. The developed model includes the high void fraction correction, i.e. it accounts for the dense particle effects in flow regions with high liquid volume fraction. Also, the liquid phases, i.e. droplet classes, are able to exchange momentum and mass between themselves, using the implemented breakup and coalescence models. Using the implemented breakup/coalescence kernels, the model calculates the mass source/sink terms in droplet phase continuity equations and the momentum source/sink terms in the droplet phase momentum equations. The developed model will be tested for spray A/B operating conditions (the is data available from ECN).