Scientists from Tomsk, in partnership with their colleagues at MISIS, have created a mathematical model that forecasts the ignition process of self-igniting fuel for space missions with remarkable accuracy. In these systems, the fuel and oxidizer react simply upon contact, without requiring heat or a spark. Prior models were unable to precisely determine when combustion would begin.
This new development enables the calculation of ignition delay time with an error margin of no more than 15% for droplets of different sizes and 10% across various temperatures. The researchers also uncovered a pattern: the larger the fuel droplets, the faster they evaporate. However, once a droplet size threshold of 3 millimeters is exceeded, the delay time stops depending on size and stays nearly constant.
The model accounts for heat exchange, evaporation, vapor mixing, and chemical reactions both within the liquid fuel and in the gas. The technology allows for real-time monitoring of temperature and mixture composition. The findings have been published in the journal FirePhysChem.
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