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Numerical modeling of wet steam infused fluid mixture for potential fire suppression applications

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Abstract

An advanced numerical model for modeling spontaneous condensation phenomena of water vapor was presented to investigate the flow behaviors in a converging-diverging nozzle for potential application in fire suppression using steam ejectors. The numerical model is validated against existing experimental data, which shows a good agreement. The proposed model was then compared against the ideal gas model in terms of various flow behaviors, including static pressure and Mach number in a newly designed nozzle. The condensing behaviors were accurately captured by the proposed model, while the idea gas model failed to do so. The condensation phenomena, including nucleation rate, droplet number, etc., in the nozzle, were discussed in detail. The accurate prediction results proved the possibility and demonstrated potential of applying the proposed model to broader fields of applications, especially into a steam ejector.

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Abbreviations

E :

Total energy

h 1v :

Latent heat during phase change

J :

Nucleation rate

k B :

Boltzmann’s constant

ṁ :

Condensation rate of vapor

m v :

Mass of one molecule

N :

Number density of droplets

p, p sat :

Pressure, saturation pressure

q c :

Evaporation coefficient

r, r*:

Droplet radius, critical droplet radius

R :

Gas constant

S :

Supersaturation ratio

t :

Time

T, T d :

Temperature, temperature of a droplet

Y :

Liquid mass fraction

u i,j, k :

Generic velocity

δ ij :

Kronecker delta

γ :

Ratio of specific heat capacities

λ eff :

Effective thermal conductivity

μ eff :

Effective molecular dynamic viscosity

ν :

Correction factor

ϕ :

Non-isothermal correction factor

ρ, ρ v, ρ 1 :

Density of mixture, density of water vapor, density of water droplets

τ ij :

Stress tensor

x i,j, k :

Generic position in space

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Acknowledgements

This research was sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre IC170100032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Hengrui Liu, Ivan Miguel De Cachinho Cordeiro, Anthony Chun Yin Yuen, Cheng Wang, Ao Li & Guan Heng Yeoh

  2. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW, 2232, Australia

    Guan Heng Yeoh

Authors
  1. Hengrui Liu
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  2. Ivan Miguel De Cachinho Cordeiro
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  3. Anthony Chun Yin Yuen
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  4. Cheng Wang
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  5. Ao Li
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  6. Guan Heng Yeoh
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Correspondence to Anthony Chun Yin Yuen.

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Liu, H., De Cachinho Cordeiro, I.M., Yuen, A.C.Y. et al. Numerical modeling of wet steam infused fluid mixture for potential fire suppression applications. Exp. Comput. Multiph. Flow 5, 142–148 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-021-0107-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-021-0107-5

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