The evolution of fuel injection strategies in automobile engines has brought about new problem sets in their design and optimization. Among these, is the deposition of liquid fuel on the inner walls of the combustion chamber, impacting the environmental performance of the engine. Indeed, evaporation of the liquid film near the wall can significantly influence combustion. The aim of this work was to develop a controllable experimental configuration along with the necessary diagnostics for a first phenomenological analysis of the behaviour and evaporation of a liquid fuel film deposited on a wall as it interacts with gas phase combustion. The chosen experimental approach allowed the generation a liquid film of heptane on a vertical wall that is positioned within an upward flowing lean premixed methane/air mixture with a rod stabilised oblique V-flame. In parallel, a low coherence interferometry diagnostic system was developed to study the properties of the heptane film, permitting simultaneous measurements of the local wall temperature and film thickness in the presence of a reacting flow. Initially, the properties of the film and its evaporation were studied under non reacting conditions in a counter-current gas flow configuration. Several typical trends were identified and analyzed. In the presence of the flame, the change in physical mechanisms that influence the evaporation and behaviour of the film was evaluated by comparing results to the non reacting case. Phenomenological analysis was then conducted on the impact of film evaporation within the velocity boundary layer on the properties of the flame front. A retroactive effect of the flame front on the mass transfer of heptane gas was observed and a significant spatial variation of reaction zones reported.
Experimental study of the behaviour and the evaporation of a liquid fuel film in the presence of a flame