Numerical study of evaporation and heat and mass transfer inside the nozzle of a catalytic reformer of diesel fuel

Abstract

In the presented work, the process of heat and mass transfer inside an original design nozzle for a catalytic reformer of diesel fuel in a low-mass-flux mode is investigated by direct numerical simulation using Open FOAM open-source code. The main goal of a new nozzle design is to increase the rate and degree of fuel evaporation, as well as to improve the mixing characteristics of diesel fuel with superheated water vapor before the reaction mixture passes through the catalyst. Inside the nozzle, there are two regions where flows with opposite swirl directions are created; this leads to a strong velocity shear inside the nozzle, intensifying the mixing processes. Simulations were carried out in the Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation, taking into account the processes of evaporation of fuel droplets. The simulation results show that the flow at the outlet of the nozzle has a good uniformity of the mixture composition and provides a high degree of fuel evaporation at the early stages of flow development.