Laminar Burning Velocity Measurements Research Articles

Study on laminar combustion characteristics and the optimization of the coupling mechanism in a mixture of propanol and gasoline

When both isopropanol and n-propanol are incorporated, the utilization of propanol as a fuel substitute (or a gasoline additive) presents promising potential for enhancing the combustion efficiency and thermal performance in compact, turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engines upon blending. However, the complexity of the laminar combustion behavior of propanol-blended gasoline has yet to be fully investigated, as current coupling mechanisms are insufficiently sophisticated to precisely mirror the complex experimental conditions.This study establishes a testbed specifically designed for measuring laminar burning velocity (LBV) using the heat flux method. This setup is employed to measure the LBV of pure n-heptane and isooctane, as well as the LBV of the gasoline surrogate fuel TRF with two distinct blend ratios. Additionally, it measures the LBV of propanol and its blends with TRF. The research findings reveal that isooctane demonstrates a heightened sensitivity to fuel preheating temperature, whereas the toluene proportion in TRF fuels exerts the most pronounced influence on combustion behavior. At an equivalence ratio of 1.1, the LBV of n-propanol differs from that of its isomer, isopropanol, by 4.65 cm/s. Notably, the LBV exhibits a discernible upward trend, corresponding to the increasing proportion of toluene in the blended fuel. Furthermore, there is a pronounced distinction in LBV among the propanol isomers, with blended TRF occupying an intermediate position between pure propanol and TRF. After the enhancement of the mechanism based on experimental benchmarks of LBV, a rigorous validation process demonstrated a substantial improvement in the alignment between simulated outcomes and empirical LBV measurements.

Investigations of Combustion Characteristics of N-Dodecane/Air Mixtures at High Temperatures Through Laminar Burning Velocity Measurements

ABSTRACT In this work, combustion characteristics of premixed n-dodecane/air mixtures are investigated at elevated mixture temperatures through laminar burning velocity measurements at atmospheric pressure and elevated temperatures using an externally heated diverging channel method. The experiments were conducted up to high-temperature conditions of 610 K at varying equivalence ratios (ϕ = 0.7–1.3) to mimic the conditions of practical application devices. With an increase in the mixture temperature, the laminar burning velocity increases because of the rise in reactant enthalpy. The peak laminar burning velocity is observed at ϕ = 1.1 for all the mixture temperatures, except at 600 K, where the maximum laminar burning velocity is observed for stoichiometric conditions. The minimum temperature exponent exists for a slightly rich mixture condition (ϕ = 1.1). Out of all mechanisms, the laminar burning velocity predictions using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory model are consistent with the present data at all mixture temperatures. Normalized sensitivity analysis is analyzed using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mechanism to understand the key reactions affecting the laminar burning velocity of the n-dodecane/air mixture. The chain branching reaction R16: H + O2 <=> O + OH has a major influence on the enhancement of the laminar burning velocity. Reaction pathway analysis is carried out at stoichiometric conditions for mixture temperatures of 400 K and 600 K, where it is observed that the elemental flux of the reaction, converting CO to CO2, gets reduced by 42.91% at the high-temperature condition.

Experimental and modelling study of phenol combustion and oxidation

Despite of its central importance in the chemistry of aromatic compounds and fuels derived from biomass, only few experimental studies on phenol combustion can be found in literature. In this paper, unique measurements of the adiabatic laminar burning velocities of phenol are presented, together with the first experimental study of the oxidation of this molecule in a jet-stirred reactor. The burning velocities were measured with a flat-flame burner using the heat-flux method for a fresh gas temperature of 398 K and equivalence ratios from 0.7 to 1.35. In the reactor experiments, the oxidation of a stoichiometric mixture of phenol highly diluted in helium was investigated at temperatures between 600 and 1100 K at near-atmospheric pressure. The mole fraction of the reactants, as well as 32 products, mainly carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, acetylene ethylene, acrolein, cyclopentadiene, benzene, naphthalene and dibenzofuran, were recorded.Based on previous literature work, a new detailed kinetic model is developed based on several published sub-mechanisms and updated considering rate constants taken from recent literature studies or calculated at the CBS-QB3 or G4 level of theory. This model leads to a significantly improved prediction of the phenol burning velocities compared to literature models, as well as a reasonable prediction of most species mole fractions during phenol oxidation in the jet-stirred reactor. Sensitivity analyses as well as flow rate analyses are discussed to explain the obtained model improvements.

Comparative analysis and optimisation of hydrogen combustion mechanism for laminar burning velocity calculation in combustion engine modelling

Hydrogen stands out as a compelling alternative to fossil fuels for combustion engines. Predictive combustion models are instrumental in developing hydrogen-fuelled engines. A fundamental metric of these models is the laminar burning velocity (LBV), which can be precisely determined through laminar flame propagation simulations. In this context, the selection of an appropriate combustion mechanism is critical. This paper aims to propose the appropriate combustion mechanism for calculating LBV in predictive combustion models of hydrogen-fuelled engines. 15 state-of-the-art combustion mechanisms were applied to reproduce the LBV measurements in engine-like conditions, especially considering the application of lean combustion and water injection. The FFCM 1.0 mechanism was identified from them and further optimised to improve its prediction accuracy at elevated pressures for the lean mixture. The maximum deviation of LBV was reduced from 17.6 % to 8.7 % by this optimisation, in comparison to 10.5 % for its closest competitor mechanism, ELTE (Varga et al., 2015).

Investigation on laminar burning velocity measurements of premixed Ethane-Air mixture at higher pressure and temperature conditions

The externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method was utilized to evaluate the laminar burning velocity (LBV) of premixed ethane-air flames at higher mixture temperature (350-620 K) and pressure (1-5 atm) conditions over different mixture strengths (ϕ = 0.7-1.3). The maximum LBV was noted at ϕ = 1.1 for all pressure and temperature conditions. The inverted parabolic behavior of the temperature exponent was obtained with the minima at ϕ = 1.1. The pressure exponent (β) exhibits a parabolic variation with its maxima at ϕ = 1.0. The current results are further analyzed and compared with the literature measurements, and the comprehensive kinetic model predictions of USC mech II, San Diego mech, and Aramco mech 1.3. The present LBV measurements match well with the kinetic model predictions of Aramco mech 1.3 at most of the mixture and pressure conditions. The present results propose the variation of pressure exponent (β) as a function of temperature ratio, and temperature exponent (α) as a function of pressure ratio for different mixture conditions (ϕ). A revised power-law correlation for α and β variations is also recommended as, Su=Su0Tu/Tu0∝0+∝11-Pu/Pu0)Pu/Pu0β0+β11-Tu/Tu0. The sensitivity analysis indicates the maximum decrement in the positive sensitivity for the chain branching reaction HCO + M ↔ H + CO + M (R30) across all the stated mixture conditions, owing to an increment in the third body effects along with pressure and temperature. The reaction pathway analysis reveals a maximum net reduction in the elemental flux (∼56 %) for the reaction between the species carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) through different reactions, due to a rise in pressure and temperature.

Acceleration of premixed H[formula omitted]-Air-Steam flames when accounting for thermal radiation

Diluting hydrogen flames with steam can increase flame stability and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. While the effects of dilution on the flame characteristics due to variations in chemistry or transport properties have been well investigated, this is not the case for those related to thermal radiation. Thermal radiation is indeed often neglected in free flame simulations. However, it can be critical in diluted flames in which participating species are present in the fresh gases. This study explores thermal radiation’s impact on H2-Air flames diluted with steam through 1D laminar flame computations. To this end, a reactive fluid solver is coupled with a semi-analytical thermal radiation code. Both the grey gas approximation, for a preliminary understanding, and the more accurate CK narrow-band model, for detailed simulations that account for spectral-dependent gas properties, are used. The combustion numerical setup is validated against literature results. Three main thermal radiation effects are highlighted: a preheating of the fresh gases, an increased laminar flame speed, and a decreased temperature in the burnt gases. It is found that domain length considerably affects this preheating and flame speed, which can then affects laminar burning velocity measurements. It is shown that thermal radiation and combustion can often be decoupled and that a preheated adiabatic flame can recover the main characteristics of the corresponding radiative flame. The increase of the laminar flame speed by thermal radiation is reported for a wide range of equivalence ratios, dilution levels, and pressures. The observed acceleration is especially significant for lean and very lean flames which can be up to 500% faster when considering thermal radiation.

Flame Propagation in Blends of R-152a, R-134a, and R-1234yf with Air

ABSTRACT Some new, low-global warming potential refrigerants will be flammable, and the laminar burning velocity is a useful parameter for quantifying fire risk. Laminar burning velocity measurements have been made using a constant volume experiment with dry air and the refrigerant R-152a (CH3CHF2), pure and blended with R-134a (CH2FCF3), or R-1234yf (CF3CFCH2). The resulting burning velocity data deduced from the pressure rise in the chamber are presented for a range of fuel air equivalence ratio and loading of the less flammable refrigerant, for unburned gases at 298 K and 101 kPa as well as at 375 K and 253 kPa. For comparison, the 1-D, planar laminar burning velocity was numerically simulated using a recently developed kinetic mechanism that includes a wide range of refrigerants with air. The predicted burning velocities agree reasonably well with the experimental values, and the numerical results are used to understand the kinetic mechanism of the reaction of the refrigerants. Uncertainties in the experimental data from radiation heat losses as well as extrapolation to ambient conditions are explored.

Measurements of laminar burning velocities and an improved kinetic model of methyl isopropyl ketone

Methyl isopropyl ketone (MIPK) is the simplest branched ketone and a promising biofuel. In this work, laminar burning velocities (SL) of MIPK + air flames were measured using the heat flux method at atmospheric pressure, over initial mixture temperatures of 298–358 K and equivalence ratios of 0.7–1.4. With the help of the temperature dependence of the SL, data inconsistency between the present measurements and the experimental data reported by Li et al. (Proc. Combust. Inst. 38 (2021) 2135) was demonstrated. Moreover, existing kinetic models for MIPK combustion notably deviate from the present SL measurements. Therefore, the MIPK model suggested by Lin et al. (Proc. Combust. Inst. 39 (2023) 315) was updated by revisiting the MIPK H-abstraction reactions and methyl isopropenyl ketone sub-model. Furthermore, a new di-methyl ketene (critical intermediate during MIPK oxidation) sub-model was constructed and integrated into the MIPK model. Flux and sensitivity analyses revealed that integration of the new di-methyl ketene model improves predictions of the laminar burning velocities as well as shock tube ignition delay times over the pressures of 1–40 bar due to converting di-methyl ketene into C3H5-T (CH2 = C˙CH3) rather than C3H6 or C3H5-S (C˙H = CHCH3) predicted by other MIPK models from the literature. Updates of the MIPK H-abstraction reactions yield more reasonable products branching ratios of formation of the primary fuel radicals, and improve prediction of the SL. It was also found that the rate constants of the MIPK decomposition reaction (MIPK (+M) = CH3CO + IC3H7 (+M)) in the model proposed by Li et al. (Proc. Combust. Inst. 38 (2021) 2135) are significantly underestimated, resulting in underestimation of the present SL measurements and significant overprediction of the ignition delay times.

Effect of the variation of oxygen concentration on the laminar burning velocities of hydrogen-enriched methane flames

The combustion properties of hydrogen-containing fuel mixtures and the effect of the variation of the oxygen content of the oxidizer are at the center of recent research interest. Laminar burning velocity measurements with varied oxygen content can help in the validation of reaction mechanisms for better simulations of combustion systems using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or oxygen-enriched atmosphere. Such measurements were carried out in hydrogen-enriched methane−air flames using the heat flux method with higher accuracy and a wider range of initial oxygen and hydrogen concentrations compared to the similar studies in the literature. The mole fractions of the hydrogen and oxygen contents of the initial fuel and oxidizer mixtures were varied between xH2 = 0 and 0.20, and xO2 = 0.14 and 0.23, respectively. The initial gas temperature and pressure were 298 K and 1 bar, respectively. It is demonstrated that the increase of combustion rate by the hydrogen enrichment can be compensated with the decrease of the oxygen content. This compensating effect was investigated in detail in a wide range of equivalence ratio (φ). The experimental data were simulated with 11 widely used methane combustion reaction mechanisms. The prediction accuracies of the mechanisms at lean and rich equivalence ratios were significantly different and the important reaction steps were identified using sensitivity analysis for three mechanisms. Mechanisms POLIMI-2014 and Caltech-2015 gave the best overall predictions.

Experimental measurements of laminar burning velocity of premixed propane-air flames at higher pressure and temperature conditions

This paper presents laminar burning velocity (LBV) measurements of premixed propane-air flames simultaneously at higher mixture pressure (1-5 atm) and temperature (350-630 K) conditions over mixture conditions (ϕ = 0.7-1.3) utilizing the externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method. The maximum LBV was observed at ϕ = 1.1 for all pressure and temperature conditions. The non-monotonic behavior of the temperature exponents was noted with the minima at ϕ = 1.1. The pressure exponent (β) variation was observed to be parabolic with the maxima at ϕ = 1.0. The current measurements are then compared with the literature results, and the detailed kinetic model predictions of Qin mech, San Diego mech, and USC mech II. The present LBV measurements are in a better match with the mechanism predictions of San Diego mech at the majority of mixture and pressure conditions. The current measurement suggests the variation of temperature exponent (α) as a function of pressure ratio, and pressure exponent (β) as a function of temperature ratio for different mixture conditions (ϕ). A revised power-law correlation for α and β variations is also suggested as, Su=Su0TuTu0∝0+∝11-PuPu0PuPu0β0+β11-TuTu0. The sensitivity analysis reveals a significant increase (≈ 45%) in negative sensitivity for the chain termination reaction H + CH3 (+M) ↔ CH4 (+M) (R56), with a rise in pressure and temperature at all mixture conditions. The reaction pathway analysis indicates a maximum increment in elemental flux (≈ 305 %) in the formation of ethane (C2H6) from its predecessor methyl radical (CH3), due to enhanced pressure and temperature conditions.

Laminar burning velocity measurements of C1-C4 alkane-air mixtures at elevated mixture temperatures

This study presents, the measurements of the laminar burning velocity (LBV) for C1-C4 alkane fuels with air at higher mixture temperatures, using an externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method. The experimental results are shown for mixture conditions ranging from ϕ = 0.7 to 1.3, with a mixture temperature of 350–660 K at ambient pressure conditions. The temperature exponent (α) is obtained using the power-law correlation to explain the influence of LBV variation with the mixture temperature at different mixture equivalence ratios, ϕ. The maximum value of mixture burning velocity is recorded for marginally rich mixture conditions, (ϕ = 1.1) at different temperatures. The lowest value of temperature exponent (α) is observed at ϕ = 1.1. The data obtained from the current measurements are then compared with the literature results, and mechanism predictions are made using the kinetic models of USC Mech II, FFCM-1, Aramco Mech 2.0, Qin Mech, San Diego Mech, GRI Mech 3.0, and LLNL. The normalized sensitivity analysis for these straight chain C1-C4 alkane fuels reveals that the decomposition of formyl radical in reaction R163: HCO + M ↔ H + CO + M, which exhibits further major root of H atom, leading to enhancement of the LBV of these fuels at elevated mixture temperature conditions.

Application and comparison of multiple machine learning models for the prediction of the laminar burning velocity for CH3OH/H2/air mixtures

Recent investigations have indicated that co-firing CH3OH with H2 is a promising approach to develop a carbon-neutral energy system. However, accurate measurements of laminar burning velocities over a wide range of equivalence ratios, H2 mole fractions, pressures and temperatures are complicated and may not available. Hence, this research deeply investigates the application of several machine learning models in predicting the laminar burning velocities of CH3OH/H2 blended fuels. Results denoted that Random Forest Regressor is the most persuasive model based on a thorough comparison, as indicated by the correlation coefficient of 0.99707.

Testing of NH3/H2 and NH3/syngas combustion mechanisms using a large amount of experimental data

A possible solution to improve the combustion properties of ammonia is to blend it with other fuels. Two of the most usually used co-fuels are hydrogen and syngas (H2/CO). To investigate the chemistry of the co-combustion with these fuels, a large amount of indirect experimental data for the combustion of neat NH3, and NH3/H2 and NH3/syngas fuel mixtures were collected from the literature including ignition delay times measured in shock tubes, concentration measurements in jet stirred and flow reactors, and laminar burning velocity measurements. Altogether, 4898 data points (in 472 data series) were recorded which cover wide ranges of equivalence ratio, temperature, and pressure. These experimental data are available in data files in the ReSpecTh site (http://respecth.hu). The performances of 18 recently published detailed reaction mechanisms were quantitatively assessed using the collected experiments. There are significant differences between the performances of the models, and the performance of a mechanism may also vary significantly with the different types of experiments. The best-performing mechanisms are POLIMI-2020, Han-2020, and KAUST-2021 for NH3/H2 fuel mixtures, and Shrestha-2021, Mei-2021, and Mei-2020 for NH3/syngas systems. The results indicate that further mechanism development is needed to reproduce the measurements more accurately. Local sensitivity analysis was carried out on the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the best-performing mechanisms. Even though the investigated models have different parameter sets, the most important reactions and thermodynamic properties are similar. The most important reactions are not the same for the different types of experiments but most of them include the NH3, NH2, and/or NNH species. Among the thermodynamic parameters, model outputs are most sensitive to the data of NH3 and NH2.

Laminar burning velocity measurements of ethyl acetate at higher mixture temperatures

In this paper, the laminar burning velocity measurements (LBV) of ethyl acetate-air mixtures are reported using an externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method for mixture temperatures up to 600 K. The measurements are performed at 1 atmosphere pressure and mixture equivalence ratio, ϕ = 0.7–1.5. The present measurements exhibit a significantly better consistency with the predictions of the Ahfaz kinetic model compared to the other available measurements in the literature. At various mixture temperatures, the highest LBV is observed for the predictions of the Dayma mechanism. The minimum value of temperature exponent (α) variation in the present work is obtained at ϕ ≈ 1.1, alike the predictions of Ahfaz and Dayma reaction mechanisms. The effect of the highest negative sensitive reaction (R136: CH3 + H(+M) ⇔ CH4 (+M)) at ϕ = 1.5 is reduced by nearly 50 % as the mixture temperature changes from 423 K to 600 K. Further, the inhibition effect of reaction R127 (H + O2 (+M) ↔ HO2 (+M)) on burning velocity tends to reduce as the mixture turns richer. Higher LBV at 600 K is associated with the presence of vinoxy radical (CH2CHO), which undergoes radical decomposition (CH2CHO (+M) ⇔ CH2CO + H(+M)) to produce a highly reactive H radical.

A comprehensive experimental and kinetic modeling study of di-isobutylene isomers: Part 2

A wide variety of high temperature experimental data obtained in this study complement the data on the oxidation of the two di-isobutylene isomers presented in Part I and offers a basis for an extensive validation of the kinetic model developed in this study. Due to the increasing importance of unimolecular decomposition reactions in high-temperature combustion, we have investigated the di-isobutylene isomers in high dilution utilizing a pyrolysis microflow reactor and detected radical intermediates and stable products using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation and photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy. Additional speciation data at oxidative conditions were also recorded utilizing a plug flow reactor at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range 725–1150 K at equivalence ratios of 1.0 and 3.0 and at residence times of 0.35 s and 0.22 s, respectively. Combustion products were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). Ignition delay time measurements for di-isobutylene were performed at pressures of 15 and 30 bar at equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 diluted in ‘air’ in the temperature range 900–1400 K using a high-pressure shock-tube facility. New measurements of the laminar burning velocities of di-isobutylene/air flames are also presented. The experiments were performed using the heat flux method at atmospheric pressure and initial temperatures of 298–358 K. Moreover, data consistency was assessed with the help of analysis of the temperature and pressure dependencies of laminar burning velocity measurements, which was interpreted using an empirical power-law expression. Electronic structure calculations were performed to compute the energy barriers to the formation of many of the product species formed. The predictions of the present mechanism were found to be in adequate agreement with the wide variety of experimental measurements performed.

Modeling Formic Acid Combustion

Nowadays, the knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry of formic acid is paramount for several industrial sectors, including energy supply and the production of bulk chemicals. In this work, a simplified kinetic mechanism and a detailed kinetic mechanism deriving from a rate-based selection algorithm were developed and tested against experimental data available in the literature. The former contains 141 species and 453 reactions, whereas the latter comprises 90 species and 1047 reactions. A focus on a low initial temperature (i.e., up to 500 K) was provided by comparing the numerical estimations with laminar burning velocity and jet-stirred measurements at several conditions. A good agreement among numerical predictions and experimental data was observed, especially for the simplified kinetic mechanism. The accuracy of the generated mechanism allowed for further analysis of the chemistry of the system, enlightening some determining aspects of the chemistry of formic acid. The produced mechanism can be also intended as per seed mechanism for the generation of kinetic models focused on the chemistry of biofuels. Indeed, the characterization of chemical aspects of formic acid occurring in an oxidative environment is crucial due to its relevance as an energy vector as well as an intermediate compound in the decomposition of larger hydrocarbons and bio-oils.

On the laminar flame propagation of C5H10O2 esters up to 10 atm: A comparative experimental and kinetic modeling study

Biodiesel is a family of renewable engine fuels with carbon-neutral nature. In this work, three C5H10O2 esters (methyl butanoate, methyl isobutanoate and ethyl propanoate), which can serve as model compounds of biodiesel and represent linear and branched methyl esters and linear ethyl esters, were investigated to characterize their laminar flame propagation characteristics up to 10 atm and unravel the effects of isomeric fuel structures. A high-pressure constant-volume cylindrical combustion vessel was used to achieve laminar burning velocity measurements at 1–10 atm, 423 K and equivalence ratios of 0.7–1.5, while comparative experimental work was performed on a heat flux burner at 1 atm, 393 K and equivalence ratios of 0.7–1.6 for methyl butanoate and ethyl propanoate. The laminar burning velocity generally decreases with increasing pressure and increases in the order of methyl isobutanoate, methyl butanoate and ethyl propanoate, which shows distinct fuel isomeric effects. A kinetic model of C5H10O2 esters was developed and validated against the new data in this work and previous data in literature. Modeling analyses were performed to provide insight into the fuel-specific flame chemistry of the three esters isomers. Remarkable differences in radical pools of three ester isomers are concluded to be responsible for the observed fuel isomeric effects on laminar flame propagation. The feature of two ethyl groups connected to the ester group in ethyl propanoate facilitates the ethyl production and inhibits the methyl and allyl production, making it propagate fastest among the three isomers. The branched structure feature of methyl isobutanoate with methyl and i-propyl groups connected to the ester group prevents the ethyl formation and results in considerable CH3 and allyl production, which decelerates its laminar flame propagation.

Combustion of N-Decane+air Mixtures To Investigate Laminar Burning Velocity Measurements At Elevated Temperatures

ABSTRACT The combustion characteristics of n-decane+air mixtures are experimentally investigated through laminar burning velocity measurements at 1 atm pressure and higher initial temperatures using an externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method. Up to 610 K mixture temperature over an equivalence ratio range of 0.7–1.4, laminar burning velocities are reported with an accuracy of ± 5%. The current measurements exhibit a good match with existing experimental measurements, and agree closely with the predictions of Zhao, LLNL and PoliMi mechanisms at different mixture temperatures. The present measurements show an excellent match of temperature exponent (α) variation with equivalence ratio (ϕ) with the predictions of distinct kinetic models as well as experimental measurements. This study reveals that a substantial scatter exists among the predictions of different kinetic models. A variation of 20–30 cm/s in the burning velocity is observed at 610 K mixture temperature. Reaction R16 (H + HO2 = H2 + O2), which inherently reduces the burning velocity becomes insignificant at an elevated mixture temperature of 610 K, and the reaction R15 (H + HO2 = 2OH) plays a dominant role in accelerating the flame propagation. From reaction pathway diagrams, it is clear that a higher burning velocity at 610 K is associated with the increased reaction rate. The elemental-flux value associated with the formation of C2H3 from C2H4 at 610 K mixture temperature is ≅34% higher in comparison to the 470 K mixture temperature.

Laminar burning velocity measurement of CH4/H2/NH3-air premixed flames at high mixture temperatures

The development of carbon-free fuels is essential for establishing sustainable energy growth with ultra-low carbon emissions. In this quest, development of newer fuels with efficient combustion characteristics equivalent to hydrocarbon fuels needs to be encouraged. With this consideration, the present work aims at the measurement of laminar burning velocity of CH4/H2/NH3-air mixture at higher temperatures using the externally heated diverging channel technique. The volume fraction of ammonia is varied from 0 to 30 % by volume in a 4:1 ratio CH4:H2 fuel blend. The proposed CH4/H2/NH3 mixture is analogous to CH4-air mixture in terms of burning velocity and adiabatic flame temperature. The measurements are obtained for elevated mixture temperature (300–750 K) and equivalence ratio range of ϕ = 0.7–1.2. The measured burning velocities of CH4/H2/NH3 mixtures are nearly similar to CH4-air mixtures for mixture temperatures >550 K. Temperature exponent remains nearly constant irrespective of the NH3 mole-fraction. Predictions of Okafor and Li kinetic-models compare well with the present experimental measurements up to 750 K, whereas Shrestha mechanism over-predicts the burning velocity values. The burning velocity is observed to decrease with an increase in NH3 mole-fraction due to the presence of nitroxyl radical. The present work ably demonstrates the application of CH4/H2/NH3-air mixtures as an efficient alternative to achieve the reduction in carbon-emission targets and develop efficient combustion systems for these derived fuels.

Formulating a quaternary gasoline surrogate (MTRF-87) using laminar burning velocity measurements

This work reports the formulating of a new quaternary gasoline surrogate (MTRF-87) model utilizing the measured burning velocities of methylcyclohexane (MCH), toluene (TL), n-heptane (nC7) and iso-octane (iC8) in a mixing rule (energy-fraction based). The laminar burning velocity (LBV) measurements are performed using an externally heated diverging channel (EHDC) method. The LBV measurements are reported for an equivalence ratio range, ϕ = 0.7–1.4 for different mixture temperatures (≤600 K) at atmospheric pressure to develop this model. The final MTRF-87 composition is governed by the octane number comparison with commercial gasolines, and constitutes 0.2, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.5 mol fractions of MCH, TL, nC7 and iC8 respectively. The MTRF-87 predictions exhibit excellent consistency with a Ranzi model (2014) and other commercially available gasolines at all mixture conditions, whereas a significant over-prediction (up to 16 %) by KAUST correlation is observed for ϕ > 1 at elevated temperatures. Experimental measurements of the formulated surrogate, MTRF-87atϕ = 1 showed that the LBV variation with the temperature ratioagrees well with the measured burning velocities of gasoline,as well asthe predictions ofvariousmodels. From sensitivity analysis, the reaction, H2 + OH = H + H2O tends to increase the LBV of lean-to stoichiometric conditions and decrease for ultra-rich mixtures (ϕ = 1.4). The temperature exponent (α) variation at different mixture conditions of toluene + air and gasoline + air mixtures follow a downward parabolic trend with minimal value at ϕ = 1.1, and shows parity with the predictions of distinct detailed kinetic model predictions.