Droplet Burning and Evaporation Times for Distillate and Residual Fuel Oils

Estimates are given of the burning and evaporation times of No. 2 distillate and No. 6 residual oil droplets, under conditions typical of industrial gas turbine combustors. Account is taken of the temperature dependence of the specific heat, the diffusion constant, and the thermal conductivity of the gas mixture surrounding the droplet. Detailed calculations are presented of the factor by which the droplet lifetime is reduced as a result of convection, for the case that the droplet is released in a gas moving at constant velocity. This factor is on the order of four for the conditions of interest. Using estimates of initial droplet diameter based on data reported by Jasuja, it is found that the ratio of characteristic droplet burning time to characteristic droplet residence time in a typical industrial gas turbine combustor is much smaller than 1 for distillate oil, but may be on the order of 1 for residual oil.