Enhanced low-temperature stable combustion of hydrocarbon with suppressing the Leidenfrost effect

Abstract

Low-temperature stable combustion of liquid hydrocarbons helps improve energy efficiency and alleviate environmental pollution. However, when hydrocarbons (mainly saturated ones) are used as aircraft fuel, they show a long ignition delay time (IDT) and high ignition temperature as a result of Leidenfrost effect and chemical inertness of the CH bond. In especial, the insulated fuel vapor film due to the Leidenfrost effect that inhibits the heat transfer efficiency in the wide Leidenfrost region is unfavorable. Herein, we first propose a strategy that combines low-temperature self-oxidation and enhanced heat conduction to achieve low-temperature stable combustion of hydrocarbon while suppressing the Leidenfrost effect. Specifically, moderately reactive organometallic compound methoxydiethylborane (MDEB) with special radicals and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with high thermal conductivity are preferred as fuel modifiers. By thermodynamic calculation, the heat released by the self-oxidation of MDEB is two orders of magnitude higher than the evaporation latent heat of n-decane, suggesting the applicability of energy conversion supported by enhancing fuel reactivity in suppressing the Leidenfrost effect. Ignition experiment results show that the negative temperature dependence associated with the Leidenfrost effect is eliminated under the specific fuel composition. Encouragingly, compared with n-decane, the IDT of MDEB/Ag/n-decane hybrid fuel is reduced from 4027 to ∼10 ms at a surface temperature of 600 °C. Comparing the ignition of MDEB/Ag/n-decane and MDEB/n-decane hybrid fuels at same temperatures, the influence of Ag NPs on IDT is highlighted by its significant decrease (∼28%). The minimum ignition temperature of n-decane-based hybrid fuel decreases to 112 °C, which is 508 °C lower than that of n-decane. These two ignition characteristic values are the low limit of saturated hydrocarbons to date. Our results thus provide a promising tool for enhancing the low-temperature ignition reliability and combustion stability of liquid hydrocarbons, which potentially decreases the pollution from the low temperature combustion.