The combustion process of droplet in an electric field is observed experimentally. The deformation and temperature of flame and droplet are obtained, and the combustion rate constant is calculated. The results show that the combustion process of droplet is significantly influenced by the electric field. When an electric field is applied, the initial shape of the droplet is elongated. The flame is brighter, the droplet shape is more stable, the flame height decreases significantly and the flame width increases slightly. When the electric field is applied, the combustion time is reduced by 14.9% compared with the condition without the electric field. With the electric field intensity increasing, the flame temperature increases firstly and then decreases, the droplet temperature decreases and the evaporation temperature decrease. When the electric field is applied, the maximum temperature of the flame measured increases by 17.6%, the maximum temperature of the droplet measured decreases by 12.9% and the evaporation temperature measured is reduced by 4.2% compared with the condition without the electric field. The electric field mainly affects the shape and temperature of flame and droplet, but the effect on the combustion rate is not obvious. The fluid flow is accelerated and the heat transfer is enhanced. The electric field charges the droplet and the directional movement in the droplet is enhanced, which promote the evaporation. At the same time, the droplet evaporates and combusts at a lower temperature, which partially counteracts the promotion caused by the flow acceleration. This study gives an insight into the effect of applied electric field on the combustion of liquid fuel in a new perspective of evaporation.

通过实验观察液滴在电场中的燃烧过程。得到火焰和液滴的变形和温度，计算燃烧速率常数。结果表明，液滴的燃烧过程受电场影响显着。当施加电场时，液滴的初始形状被拉长。火焰更明亮，液滴形状更稳定，火焰高度显着降低，火焰宽度略有增加。施加电场时，燃烧时间比无电场时缩短14.9%。随着电场强度的增加，火焰温度先升高后降低，液滴温度降低，蒸发温度降低。施加电场时，测得的火焰最高温度比无电场时提高了17.6%，测得的液滴最高温度降低了12.9%，测得的蒸发温度降低了4.2%。电场主要影响火焰和液滴的形状和温度，但对燃烧速率的影响不明显。流体流动加速，传热增强。电场使液滴带电，液滴中的定向运动增强，从而促进蒸发。同时，液滴在较低温度下蒸发燃烧，部分抵消了流动加速带来的促进作用。