Numerical Modeling of a Cooling Water Droplet Using a Two-Phase Flow Approach

摘要

The study and understanding of cooling and freezing water droplets is of paramount importance due to their influence in the decrease of aerodynamic performance on lifting surfaces. It is imperative to develop models capable of simulating the freezing processes and ice accretion effects, in order to predict with maximum efficiency freezing and avoid this phenomenon or even taking advantage of it and develop new technologies that ultimately will improve air travel. As such, this paper aims to study the cooling of a water droplet in free fall. A two-way coupling model is implemented to evaluate the influence of gas-drop and drop-gas interactions, numerically investigating the cooling of free falling droplets for different diameters and air humidity ratios. The predictions are compared with experimental and numerical data with the objective of providing insight into the degree of heat and mass transfer involved. Some correlations to account for the convection effects are introduced and are found to be in close agreement with the experimental data.