Formulation of Surrogates of Hydrocarbon Fuels Using Selected Physico-Chemical Properties Related to Atomization, Heating, Evaporation and Combustion Behaviours

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this work is to describe an approach to the formulation of surrogates of hydrocarbon fuels, taking into account the properties related to atomization, heating, evaporation and combustion behaviors. These properties include the density, viscosity, lower calorific value, distillation curve, saturated vapor pressure, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, surface tension, molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon, molar mass, derived cetane number, and threshold soot index. Three diesel surrogates were developed using the proposed approach. Methods for calculating the physicochemical properties of both individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures are presented. The discrepancy between calculated results and experimental data for all properties is shown not to exceed 3%. Experimental studies were carried out in a lab-scaled combustion chamber, in which the properties of one of the three developed surrogates, DSSU3, were compared with those of diesel fuel. Also, the simulation results for DSSU3 were compared with published experimental data. It is shown that the properties of DSSU3 are a good match for those of diesel fuel. In addition, a kerosene surrogate was formed using the proposed approach. This allowed us to conclude that this approach to determining the properties of multi-component fuels is suitable for the formulation of both kerosene and diesel fuel surrogates.