Micro-explosion of emulsion droplets with nanoparticles at high temperature

Compared with traditional fuels, emulsified fuels can improve fuel atomization and combustion, and nano-particles as additives have the potential to enhance combustion and reduce emissions. Previous studies on micro-explosion mainly considered emulsion droplets, but the role of nanoparticles in emulsion droplets is still unclear. In this study, we experimentally investigate the micro-explosion of emulsion droplets with nanoparticles via high-speed photography, digital image processing, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the presence of nanoparticles can greatly improve the strength and probability of micro-explosion, particularly for carbon nanoparticles. This is mainly because nanoparticles can agglomerate during the evaporation of emulsion droplets, facilitate the absorption of radiation energy, inhibit the diffusion of su-perheated vapor, and ultimately promote micro-explosion. The effects of nanoparticle mass fraction and water content are also investigated, and the results show that the increase of nanoparticles and water can facilitate micro-explosion.