H2 Fraction Research Articles

Combustion enhancement and inhibition of hydrogen-doped methane flame by HFC-227ea

Hydrogen enriched with compressed natural gas is an efficient and environment-friendly gaseous fuel. However, the safety issues of mixture and the method to control or weaken their combustion are highly concerned. To explore the inhibition effect of halogenated fire suppressants on the mixture, the effect of HFC-227ea on the laminar premixed methane/air flames, with different fractions of H2, have been studied. Burning velocities have been measured with constant-volume combustion chamber and kinetically modelled a recently assembled kinetic mechanism. The fractions of H2 influence the enhancement and inhibition effect of HFC-227ea, and it is less effective with the lean mixture. In stoichiometric condition, HFC-227ea showed good inhibition effect on the mixture flames. The HFC-227ea increased the burning velocities of CH4-0% H2-air and CH4-10% H2-air flames at leanest condition, whereas the increased burning velocity arising from HFC-227ea not occurred as the addition of H2 above 20%. Experimental results coincided well with numerical results, however the agreement was poor for the leanest flames at low agent loading. Lastly, kinetic mechanism analysis was used to interpret the combustion enhancement and inhibition effect of hydrogen-doped methane flame by HFC-227ea.

Three-Dimensional CFD Modeling of Serpentine Flow Field Configurations for PEM Fuel Cell Performance

A complete three-dimensional Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) model is proposed to study the influence of right-angle turn single serpentine (RAT1S), right-angle turn double serpentine (RAT2S), right-angle turn triple serpentine (RAT3S), and right-angle turn 3–2–1 serpentine (RAT321S) flow fields configuration on PEMFC performance with a commercial CFD code (ANSYS FLUENT). Simulations have been performed to envisage the pressure drop in the channel, the mass fraction of H2 and O2 along the anode and cathode channels, current flux density dispersion on the catalyst layer (CL), the membrane water content and proton conductivity as well as cell performance for proposed 4 flow field designs. A comparison of the simulation results of the four models was carried out. It has been found that the output of RAT321S flow field has improved compared to the RAT1S, RAT2S, and RAT3S flow field designs for the flow of the fixed-flow reactants, and RAT321S flow field model has been validated with experimental literature evidence. The results also show that the pressure drop losses are reduced as the number of passes increases.

Modelling H2 and its effects on star formation using a joint implementation of gadget-3 and KROME

ABSTRACT We present p-gadget3-k, an updated version of gadget-3, that incorporates the chemistry package krome. p-gadget3-k follows the hydrodynamical and chemical evolution of cosmic structures, incorporating the chemistry and cooling of H2 and metal cooling in non-equilibrium. We performed different runs of the same ICs to assess the impact of various physical parameters and prescriptions, namely gas metallicity, molecular hydrogen formation on dust, star formation recipes including or not H2 dependence, and the effects of numerical resolution. We find that the characteristics of the simulated systems, both globally and at kpc-scales, are in good agreement with several observable properties of molecular gas in star-forming galaxies. The surface density profiles of star formation rate (SFR) and H2 are found to vary with the clumping factor and resolution. In agreement with previous results, the chemical enrichment of the gas component is found to be a key ingredient to model the formation and distribution of H2 as a function of gas density and temperature. A star formation algorithm that takes into account the H2 fraction together with a treatment for the local stellar radiation field improves the agreement with observed H2 abundances over a wide range of gas densities and with the molecular Kennicutt–Schmidt law, implying a more realistic modelling of the star formation process.

Experimental and numerical investigation of stability and emissions of hydrogen-assisted oxy-methane flames in a multi-hole model gas-turbine burner

This paper reports experimental and numerical study of stability and combustion characteristics of premixed oxy-methane flames with hydrogen-enrichment (CH4–H2/O2–CO2 flames) in a model multi-hole burner for clean energy production in gas turbines. The combustor lean blow-out (LBO) limit was presented on an equivalence ratio (Ø) - hydrogen fraction (HF: volumetric fraction of H2 in a mixture of H2+CH4) map spanning over Ø-values of 0.1–1 and HF-values of 0–70% at fixed hole jet velocity and oxygen fraction (OF: volumetric fraction of O2 in a mixture of O2+CO2) of 5.2 m/s and 30%, respectively. The condition of the combustion chamber is assumed to be depicted by the corrugated premixed flame regime. The premixed turbulent flame was modeled using the reaction progress variable flame front topology approach with the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique. The recorded combustor stability maps showed great resistance of the micromixer burner technology to flashback, recommending its use for stable gas turbine operation. The results show that H2-enrichment widens the combustor operability limits (higher turndown ratio) by extending the LBO from Ø = 0.45 at HF = 0% down to Ø = 0.15 at HF = 70% with a slight reduction in the heat release factor by 0.1. The high reactivity and higher flame speed of H2 ensures the sustenance of flame at lower equivalence ratios. At high equivalence ratios, H2 addition enhances the reaction rates and makes both the primary and secondary reaction zones shorter and more intense. Increasing HF leads to increase in the Damköhler number (Da) and decrease in both the Karlovitz number (Ka) and flame thickness. The CO emission at the combustor outlet reduced significantly from 241 ppm at HF = 0% to 33.1 ppm at HF = 10%, then it increased back to 364 ppm at HF = 50%.

Comparison and reduction of the chemical kinetic mechanisms proposed for thermal partial oxidation of methane (TPOX) in porous media

The effectiveness and reducibility of the methane combustion kinetic mechanisms were examined for the TPOX process in a porous medium. To this end, TPOX was successfully simulated using ANSYS CHEMKIN-Pro through a reactor network model composed of perfectly stirred and honeycomb-monolith reactors. The efficacy of six chemical kinetic mechanisms was compared for the equivalence ratios (ERs) ranging from 2.4 to 2.6 with a constant thermal load of 1540 kW/m2. This comparison revealed that Konnov was the most successful mechanism in the prediction of the H2 and CO mole fractions. This mechanism along with the GRI-3.0 and USC-Mech 2.0 mechanisms were then reduced by the direct relation graph with error propagation (DRGEPSA) followed by the full species sensitivity analysis (FSSA). This approach reduced the number of species from 119 to 29 for the Konnov mechanism, from 53 to 23 for the GRI 3.0 mechanism, and from 111 to 34 for the USC-Mech 2.0 mechanism.

Evaluation of manifold representations of chemistry in stratified, swirl-stabilized flames

The validity of assuming that a simple, low-dimensional manifold can sufficiently accurately represent the chemical state in a turbulent flame is investigated. The experimental data from the Cambridge/Sandia stratified swirl burner working in nine different configurations are post-processed to explore the effects of coordinate, swirl flow ratio, and stratification factor on the conditionally-averaged reactive scalars. First, the mixture fraction and thermal progress variable are employed to construct a two-dimensional conditional manifold by using all of the data – regardless of the coordinate in the physical domain, swirl ratio, and stratification factor. Moreover, one-point, one-time measurements are utilized to compute the exact joint Probability Density Function (PDF) of the conditioning variables at each point. Having the conditional averages of temperature and mass fractions of CO2, CO, CH4, H2, and H2O in addition to the joint PDF of the conditioning variables, the low-dimensional manifold is applied to calculate the unconditional averages for each of the scalars. The mean values are also obtained by ensemble averaging all of the data available for each of the measuring points, and the discrepancies between the values calculated from the two approaches are reported in order to assess the validity of the assumptions underlying the low-dimensional chemistry representations. The results suggest that the two chosen conditioning variables are not sufficient to make the manifold independent of the real domain, so, the normalized total enthalpy is introduced as the third conditioning variable and the process repeated. Results obtained from the three-condition manifold demonstrate that the discrepancies for prediction of the reactive scalars, more significantly for CO2 and CO mass fractions, decrease when using the third condition. The discrepancies with three conditions show that a three-dimensional manifold is sufficient to assume the conditional averages are independent of swirl and stratification. A normalized accumulated discrepancy is used as a metric for each of the cases so one can see the overall effect of each assumption that is made for constructing the conditional manifold. Decoupling the manifold from the coordinate, swirl ratio, and stratification level makes it possible to obtain the filtered chemical source-terms from a static lookup table for many flames which will considerably reduce the computational cost for simulating turbulent reacting flows.

Effect of high hydrogen enrichment on the outer-shear-layer flame of confined lean premixed CH4/H2/air swirl flames

In this study, we investigated the H2-induced transition of confined swirl flames from the “V” to “M” shape. H2-enriched lean premixed CH4/H2/air flames with H2 fractions up to 80% were conducted. The flame structure was obtained with Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) of the OH radical. Flow fields were measured with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). It was observed that the flame tip in the outer shear layer gradually propagated upstream and finally anchored to the injector with the hydrogen fractions increase, yielding the transition from the “V” to “M” flame. We examined the flame structures and the flame flow dynamics during the transition. The shape transition was directly related to the evolution of the corner flame along the outer shear layer. With H2 addition, the outer recirculation zone first appeared downstream where the corner flame started to propagate upstream; then, the recirculation zone expanded upward to form a stable “M” flame gradually. The flow straining was observed to influence the stabilization of the outer shear layer flame significantly. This study can be useful for the understanding of recirculation-stabilized swirling flames with strong confinement. The flame structure and the flow characteristics of flames with a high H2 content are also valuable for model validation.

Early Science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: Constraining the Gas Fraction of a Compact Quiescent Galaxy at z = 1.883

Abstract We present constraints on the dust continuum flux and inferred gas content of a gravitationally lensed massive quiescent galaxy at z = 1.883 ± 0.001 using AzTEC 1.1 mm imaging with the Large Millimeter Telescope. MRG-S0851 appears to be a prototypical massive compact quiescent galaxy, but evidence suggests that it experienced a centrally concentrated rejuvenation event in the last 100 Myr. This galaxy is undetected in the AzTEC image but we calculate an upper limit on the millimeter flux and use this to estimate the H2 mass limit via an empirically calibrated relation that assumes a constant molecular-gas-to-dust ratio of 150. We constrain the 3σ upper limit of the H2 fraction from the dust continuum in MRG-S0851 to be M H 2 / M ⋆ ≤ 6.8 % . MRG-S0851 has a low gas fraction limit with a moderately low sSFR owing to the recent rejuvenation episode, which together result in a relatively short depletion time of <0.6 Gyr if no further H2 gas is accreted. Empirical and analytical models both predict that we should have detected molecular gas in MRG-S0851, especially given the rejuvenation episode; this suggests that cold gas and/or dust is rapidly depleted in at least some early quiescent galaxies.

Water-Gas Shift Reaction to Capture Carbon Dioxide and Separate Hydrogen on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

In view of the increasingly severe global warming and ocean acidification caused by CO2 emissions, we report a new procedure, named "reactive separation", to capture CO2. We used advanced Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods to simulate the water-gas shift reaction in single-walled carbon nanotubes. We found that (11,11) carbon nanotubes with a diameter of 0.75 nm have the best ability to capture CO2 generated in the water-gas shift reaction. When the feed water-gas ratio is 1:1, the pressure is 3 MPa, and the temperature is 473 K, the storage capacity of CO2 reaches 2.18 mmol/g, the molar fraction of CO2 and H2 inside the carbon nanotube is 0.87 and 0.09, respectively, the conversion of CO in the pore is as high as 97.6%, and the CO2/H2 separation factor is 10.3. Therefore, utilizing the reaction and separation coupling effect of carbon nanotubes to adsorb and store the product CO2 formed in the water-gas shift reaction, while separating the generated clean energy gas H2, is a promising strategy for developing novel CO2 capture technologies.

Different chemical effect of hydrogen addition on soot formation in laminar coflow methane and ethylene diffusion flames

Previous studies showed that adding hydrogen (H2) can have an opposite chemical effect on soot formation: its chemical effect enhances and suppresses soot formation in methane (CH4) and ethylene (C2H4) diffusion flames, respectively. Such opposite chemical effect of H2 (CE-H2) remains unresolved. The different CE-H2 is studied numerically in the two laminar coflow diffusion flames. A detailed chemical mechanism with the addition of a chemically inert virtual species FH2 is used to model the gas-phase combustion chemistry in this study. Particularly, a reaction pathway analysis was performed based on the numerical results to gain insights into how H2 addition to fuel affects the pathways leading to the formation of benzene (A1) in CH4 and C2H4 flames. The numerical results show that the CE-H2 in CH4 diffusion flame to prompt soot formation is ascribed that the higher mole fraction of H atom promotes the formation of A1 and Acetylene (C2H2) and leads to higher nucleation rate and eventually higher soot surface growth rate. In contrast, adding H2 to C2H4 diffusion flames decreases soot nucleation and surface growth rate. The lower soot nucleation rate is due to the lower mole fractions of pyrene (A4), while the lower soot surface growth rate is due to the lower mole fractions of H atom and C2H2, higher mole fraction of H2 and lower soot nucleation rate. Furthermore, the CE-H2 in C2H4 diffusion flames promotes the formation of A1, but suppresses the formation of A4.

Numerical Investigation of Hematite Flash Reduction-biomass Steam Gasification Coupling Process

The flash ironmaking process is a novel ironmaking technology; the direct use of biomass as the reductant and fuel in this process can take full advantage of the heat and syngas produced during the biomass gasification. This study establishes a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model that incorporates turbulent flow, mass transfer, and heat transfer to describe the complex gas-particle reaction behavior of the hematite flash reduction-biomass steam gasification (FR-BSG) coupling process in an entrained flow reactor to explore its feasibility. The temperature and species distributions in the FR-BSG coupling process are analyzed, and the effects of steam/carbon molar ratio (S/C) and ore/biomass mass ratio (O/B) are investigated. The results show that the reduction degree of hematite particles reaches 76.67% in the residence time of 1.65 s under the conditions of S/C=0.1, O/B=1.0 and T=1673 K. The increase of S/C can enhance the production of H2 but reduce the molar fractions of H2 and CO in biomass syngas, which leads to the decrease of hematite reduction degree. A higher reduction degree of hematite and lower carbon conversion of biomass can be obtained at lower O/B values. These results provide a theoretical basis for the use of biomass as energy in flash ironmaking technology.

Large eddy simulation of the Cambridge/Sandia stratified flame with flamelet-generated manifolds: Effects of non-unity Lewis numbers and stretch

The Cambridge/Sandia turbulent stratified flame (SwB5) is simulated with the LES and Flamelet-Generated Manifolds (FGM) combustion model. Three 3D FGM manifolds are adopted. With the purpose to examine the influence of transport properties, unity and non-unity Lewis numbers (Le) are included in the first two manifolds, respectively. The combined effects of non-unity Le and stretch are investigated in the third manifold. Heat loss to the wall is also modeled. Good agreement is found between the simulation and experiment. The equivalence ratio, temperature and mass fractions of CO and H2 are all well reproduced in contrast with previous simulations. It is found that using non-unity Le can even deteriorate the near-wall temperature modeling. Non-unity Le is proposed to be crucial for the CO prediction as well, besides H2. The equivalence ratio modeling is observed to be very important, which accounts for several non-unity Le effects. Flame stretch shows almost no impact on the velocity fields, whereas its effects on the species, equivalence ratio and temperature are identified, although to a limited extent for the Cambridge/Sandia flame.

Performance research of lanthanum-loaded dolomite catalyst for pine catalytic gasification

To enhance the catalytic effect of dolomite, La/Dol catalyst was prepared by impregnation modification of dolomite with La (NO3)3 as additive. The catalyst was characterized by BET, SEM and XRD. With pine rods as raw materials and La/Dolas reforming catalysts, the effects of gasification temperature and La amount of catalysts on the catalytic gasification of pine were compared and analyzed in a self-made two-stage biomass gasification reforming experimental furnace. The results show that a small amount of La (2%) can obviously promote the forward progress of water gas reaction and perfect the catalytic reforming effect. Under the working condition of steam flow rate of 10 g/min, 2-La/Dol catalyst and reforming temperature of 750°C, with the increase of gasification temperature, the amount of H2 increases significantly, and the highest volume fraction of H2 increases from 28.51% (0-La/Dol) to 41.72% (2-La/Dol). La2O3 in the catalyst promotes the secondary cracking of tar. As a result, the tar content of liquid phase product is obviously reduced, and the number of functional groups is also reduced. La2O3 on dolomite surface occupies active sites, so carbon filaments are not suitable for accumulation and carbon deposition is inhibited. Carbonate (La2O2CO3) in the catalyst can react with carbon to slow down the carbon deposition on the surface and improve the activity and service life of the catalyst.

Molecular hydrogen in IllustrisTNG galaxies: carefully comparing signatures of environment with local CO and SFR data

ABSTRACT We examine how the post-processed content of molecular hydrogen (H2) in galaxies from the TNG100 cosmological, hydrodynamic simulation changes with environment at z = 0, assessing central/satellite status and host halo mass. We make close comparisons with the carbon monoxide (CO) emission survey xCOLD GASS where possible, having mock-observed TNG100 galaxies to match the survey’s specifications. For a representative sample of host haloes across 1011 ≲ M200c/M⊙ < 1014.6, TNG100 predicts that satellites with $m_* \ge 10^9\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ should have a median deficit in their H2 fractions of ∼0.6 dex relative to centrals of the same stellar mass. Once observational and group-finding uncertainties are accounted for, the signature of this deficit decreases to ∼0.2 dex. Remarkably, we calculate a deficit in xCOLD GASS satellites’ H2 content relative to centrals of 0.2–0.3 dex, in line with our prediction. We further show that TNG100 and SDSS data exhibit continuous declines in the average star formation rates of galaxies at fixed stellar mass in denser environments, in quantitative agreement with each other. By tracking satellites from their moment of infall in TNG100, we directly show that atomic hydrogen (H i) is depleted at fractionally higher rates than H2 on average. Supporting this picture, we find that the H2/H i mass ratios of satellites are elevated relative to centrals in xCOLD GASS. We provide additional predictions for the effect of environment on H2 – both absolute and relative to H i – that can be tested with spectral stacking in future CO surveys.

Turbulent dissipation, CH+ abundance, H2 line luminosities, and polarization in the cold neutral medium

ABSTRACT In the cold neutral medium, high out-of-equilibrium temperatures are created by intermittent dissipation processes, including shocks, viscous heating, and ambipolar diffusion. The high-temperature excursions are thought to explain the enhanced abundance of CH+ observed along diffuse molecular sightlines. Intermittent high temperatures should also have an impact on H2 line luminosities. We carry out simulations of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in molecular clouds including heating and cooling, and post-process them to study H2 line emission and hot-gas chemistry, particularly the formation of CH+. We explore multiple magnetic field strengths and equations of state. We use a new H2 cooling function for $n_{\text{H}}\le 10^5\, {\text{cm}}^{-3}$, $T\le 5000\, {\text{K}}$, and variable H2 fraction. We make two important simplifying assumptions: (i) the H2/H fraction is fixed everywhere and (ii) we exclude from our analysis regions where the ion–neutral drift velocity is calculated to be greater than 5 km s−1. Our models produce H2 emission lines in accord with many observations, although extra excitation mechanisms are required in some clouds. For realistic root-mean-square (rms) magnetic field strengths (≈10 μG) and velocity dispersions, we reproduce observed CH+ abundances. These findings contrast with those of Valdivia et al. (2017) Comparison of predicted dust polarization with observations by Planck suggests that the mean field is ≳5 µG, so that the turbulence is sub-Alfvénic. We recommend future work treating ions and neutrals as separate fluids to more accurately capture the effects of ambipolar diffusion on CH+ abundance.

A priori DNS study of applicability of flamelet concept to predicting mean concentrations of species in turbulent premixed flames at various Karlovitz numbers

Complex-chemistry direct numerical simulation (DNS) data obtained earlier from lean hydrogen-air flames associated with corrugated flame (case A), thin reaction zone (case B), and broken reaction zone (case C) regimes of turbulent burning are analysed to directly assess capabilities of the flamelet approach to predict mean concentrations of species in a premixed turbulent flame. The approach consists in averaging dependencies of mole fractions, reaction rates, temperature, and density on a single combustion progress variable c, which are all obtained from the unperturbed laminar flame. For this purpose, four alternative definitions of c are probed and two probability density functions (PDFs) are adopted, i.e. either an actual PDF extracted directly from the DNS data or a presumed β-function PDF obtained using the DNS data on the first two moments of the c(x, t)-field. Results show that the mean density and mean mole fractions of H2, O2, and H2O are well predicted using both PDFs for each c, although the predictive capabilities are little worse in case C. In cases A and B, the use of the actual PDF and the fuel-based c also offers an opportunity to well predict mean mole fractions of O and H, whereas the mean mole fraction of OH is slightly underestimated. In the highly turbulent case C, the same approach performs worse, but still appears to be acceptable for evaluating the mean radical concentrations. The use of the β-function PDFs or another combustion progress variable yields substantially worse results for these radicals. When compared to the mean mole fractions, the mean rate of product creation, i.e. the source term in the transport equation for the mean combustion progress variable, is worse predicted even for a quantity (species concentration or temperature) adopted to define c and using the actual PDF. Consequently, turbulent burning velocity is not predicted either.

Can volcanism build hydrogen-rich early atmospheres?

Hydrogen in rocky planet atmospheres has been invoked in arguments for extending the habitable zone via N2-H2 and CO2-H2 greenhouse warming, and providing atmospheric conditions suitable for efficient production of prebiotic molecules. On Earth and Super-Earth-sized bodies, where hydrogen-rich primordial envelopes are quickly lost to space, volcanic outgassing can act as a hydrogen source, provided it balances the hydrogen loss rate from the top of the atmosphere. Here, we show that both Earth-like and Mars-like planets can sustain atmospheric H2 fractions of several percent across relevant magmatic fO2 ranges. In general this requires hydrogen escape to operate somewhat less efficiently than the diffusion limit. We use a thermodynamical model of magma degassing to determine which combinations of magma oxidation, volcanic flux and hydrogen escape efficiency can build up appreciable levels of hydrogen in a planet's secondary atmosphere. On a planet similar to the Archean Earth and with a similar magmatic fO2, we suggest that the mixing ratio of atmospheric H2 could have been in the range 0.2-3%, from a parameter sweep over a variety of plausible surface pressures, volcanic fluxes, and H2 escape rates. A planet erupting magmas around the Iron-Wüstite (IW) buffer (i.e., ∼3 log fO2 units lower than the inferred Archean mantle fO2), but with otherwise similar volcanic fluxes and H2 loss rates to early Earth, could sustain an atmosphere with approximately 10-20% H2. For an early Mars-like planet with magmas around IW, but a lower range of surface pressures and volcanic fluxes compared to Earth, an atmospheric H2 mixing ratio of ∼2-8% is possible. On early Mars, this H2 mixing ratio could be sufficient to deglaciate the planet. However, the sensitivity of these results to primary magmatic water contents and volcanic fluxes show the need for improved constraints on the crustal recycling efficiency and mantle water contents of early Mars.

Continuous Detonation of CH4/H2–Air Mixtures in an Annular Combustor with Varied Geometry

Regimes of continuous detonation of CH4/H2–air mixtures with mass fractions of H2 in the fuel equal to 0–1/5 are obtained in an annular combustor 503 mm in diameter with variation of the combustor geometry. The influence of the combustor geometry on the velocity and number of transverse detonation waves, pressure in the combustor, and specific impulse is considered. It is found that three-fold constriction of the combustor exit cross area allows obtaining two-wave regimes of continuous spin detonation in the pure methane–air mixture. Based on stagnation pressures measured at the combustor exit, the specific impulses in the case of continuous detonation are determined for different compositions of the fuel.

The influence of environment on satellite galaxies in the GAEA semi-analytic model

ABSTRACT Reproducing the observed quenched fraction of satellite galaxies has been a long-standing issue for galaxy formation models. We modify the treatment of environmental effects in our state-of-the-art GAlaxy Evolution and Assembly (GAEA) semi-analytic model to improve our modelling of satellite galaxies. Specifically, we implement gradual stripping of hot gas, ram-pressure stripping of cold gas, and an updated algorithm to account for angular momentum exchanges between the gaseous and stellar disc components of model galaxies. Our updated model predicts quenched fractions that are in good agreement with local observational measurements for central and satellite galaxies, and their dependencies on stellar mass and halo mass. We also find consistency between model predictions and observational estimates of quenching times for satellite galaxies, H i, H2 fractions of central galaxies, and deficiencies of H i, H2, SFR of galaxies in cluster haloes. In the framework of our updated model, the dominant quenching mechanisms are hot gas stripping for low-mass satellite galaxies, and AGN feedback for massive satellite galaxies. The ram-pressure stripping of cold gas only affects the quenched fraction in massive haloes with Mh > 1013.5 M⊙, but is needed to reproduce the observed H i deficiencies.

Effects of H2 Addition on Flammability Dynamics and Extinction Physics of Dimethyl Ether in Laminar Spherical Diffusion Flame.

Flame extinction is one of the most essential critical flame features in combustion because of its relevance to combustion safety, efficiency, and pollutant emissions. In this paper, detailed simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of H2 addition on dimethyl ether spherical diffusion flame in microgravitational condition, in terms of flame structure, flammability, and extinction mechanism. The mole fraction of H2 in the fuel mixture was varied from 0 to 15% by 5% in increment. The chemical explosive mode analysis (CEMA) method was employed to reveal the controlling physicochemical processes in extinction. The results show that the cool flame in microgravitational diffusive geometry had the “double-reaction-zone” structure which consisted of rich and lean reaction segments, while the hot flame featured the “single-reaction-zone” structure. We found that the existence of “double-reaction-zone” was responsible for the stable self-sustained cool flame because the lean zone merged with the rich zone when the cool flame was close to extinction. Additionally, the effect of H2 addition on the cool flame was distinctively different from that of the hot flame. Both hot- and cool-flame flammability limits were significantly extended because of H2 addition but for different reasons. Besides, for each H2 addition case, the chemical explosive mode eigenvalues with the complex number appeared in the near-extinction zone, which implies the oscillation nature of flame in this zone which may induce extinction before the steady-state extinction turning point on the S-curve. Furthermore, as revealed by CEMA analysis, contributions of the most dominated species for extinction changed significantly with varying H2 additions, while contributions of the key reactions for extinction at varying H2 additions were basically identical.