In this review, recent models for
the heating/evaporation of multicomponent
and blended fuel droplets and their implementation into numerical
codes, used for the analysis of the processes in internal combustion
engines, are reviewed. In these models, the diffusion of species,
recirculation, and temperature gradient inside droplets are considered.
The focus of the review is on the group of models based on the implementation
of the analytical solutions to the heat transfer and species diffusion
equations inside droplets into numerical codes. Four key aspects are
summarized: (1) application of the Discrete Component (DC) model and
the Multi-Dimensional Quasi-Discrete Model (MDQDM) to a broad range
of fuels, including petrol, diesel, ethanol, and biodiesel fuels and
their blends, (2) formulation of fuel surrogates, with a focus on
the recently introduced Complex Fuel Surrogate Model (CFSM), (3) overview
of the recently introduced transient algorithm, Transient Multi-Dimensional
Quasi-Discrete Model (TMDQDM), for an autogeneration of quasi-components,
and (4) implementation of the latter into a computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) code for a realistic engineering application to full cycle simulation
in internal combustion engines. The original and modified versions
of the DC model and MDQDM are evaluated for the heating and evaporation
of droplets of bio/fossil-fuel (e.g., ethanol/petrol/biodiesel/diesel)
blends. These were implemented into commercial CFD software and validated.
The feasibility of formulating complex fuel surrogates for fuel blends,
their implementation into CFD codes, and their application in the
full engine cycle simulation before and after the onset of combustion
(autoignition) are described.