The Effects of Convection on Combustion of Nanoparticle Infused Fuels

In the fuel industry, there is an abundance of research being conducted to understand droplet combustion of nanoparticle infused fuels. Much of the previous research in this field focuses on how to understand general droplet combustion or how radiation affects droplet combustion, however little is being done to understand the effects of convection on the combustion of these infused fuels. The experimental set up currently used at the University of Iowa was modified to prevent radiation from entering the system and used in combination with a fan thus providing a method to continuously drive the combustion forward. In using this process, the droplet never ignites and as such burns only through convection. From this type of burning, the effects of convection were studied by determining the burning rate.