Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Research Articles

A Reformulation of Degree of Disequilibrium Analysis for Automatic Selection of Kinetic Constraints in the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Method

Abstract The rate-controlled constrained equilibrium (RCCE) is a model reduction scheme for chemical kinetics. It describes the evolution of a complex chemical system with acceptable accuracy with a number of rate controlling constraints on the associated constrained-equilibrium states of the system, much lower than the number of species in the underlying detailed kinetic model (DKM). Successful approximation of the constrained-equilibrium states requires accurate identification of the constraints. One promising procedure is the fully automatable Approximate Singular Value Decomposition of the Actual Degrees of Disequilibrium (ASVDADD) method that is capable of identifying the best constraints for a given range of thermodynamic conditions and a required level of approximation. ASVDADD is based on simple algebraic analysis of the results of the underlying DKM simulation and is focused on the behavior of the degrees of disequilibrium (DoD) of the individual chemical reactions. In this paper, we introduce an alternative ASVDADD algorithm. Unlike the original ASVDADD algorithm that require the direct computation of the DKM-derived DoDs and the identification of the set of linearly independent reactions, in the alternative algorithm, the components of the overall degree of disequilibrium vector can be computed directly by casting the DKM as an RCCE simulation considering a set of linearly independent constraints equaling the number of chemical species in size. The effectiveness and robustness of the derived constraints from the alternative procedure is examined in hydrogen/oxygen and methane/oxygen ignition delay simulations and the results are compared with those obtained from DKM.

Study of the Constraint Selection Through ASVDADD Method for Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Modeling on Ethanol Oxidation Without PLOG Reactions

Abstract Reduction of the detail chemical kinetic mechanism is important in solving complex combustion simulation. In this work, a model reduction scheme rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE) is considered in predicting the oxidation of ethanol. A detail kinetic mechanism by Merinov from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is used in modeling this reduction technique. The RCCE method considers constrained equilibrium states which subjected to a lower number of constraints compared to the number of species. It then has to solve a smaller number of differential equations compared to the number of equations required in solving the detailed kinetic model (DKM). The accuracy of this solution depends on the selection of the constraint. A systematic procedure which will help in identifying the constraint at an optimal level of accuracy is an essential for RCCE modeling. A fully automated Approximate Singular Value Decomposition of the Actual Degrees of Disequilibrium (ASVDADD) method is used in this study to derive the constraint for RCCE simulation. ASVDADD uses an algorithm which follows the simple algebraic analysis on results of underlying DKM to find the degree of disequilibrium (DoD) of the individual chemical reactions. The number of constraints which will be used in RCCE simulation can be selected to reduce the number of equations required to solve. In the current work, this ASVDADD method is applied on ethanol oxidation to select the constraint for RCCE simulation. Both DKM and RCCE calculations on ethanol fuel are demonstrated to compare the result of temperature distribution and an ignition delay time for validating the method.

Review of Applications of Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium in Combustion Modeling

AbstractDeveloping an effective model for non-equilibrium states is of great importance for a variety of problems related to chemical synthesis and combustion. Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium (RCCE), a model order reduction method that originated from the second law of thermodynamics, assumes that the non-equilibrium states of a system can be described by a sequence of constrained-equilibrium states kinetically controlled by a relatively small number of constraints within acceptable accuracy. The full chemical composition at each constrained-equilibrium state is obtained by maximizing (or minimizing) the appropriate thermodynamic quantities, e. g., entropy (or Gibbs functions), subject to the instantaneous values of RCCE constraints. Regardless of the nature of the kinetic constraints, RCCE always guarantees a correct final equilibrium state. This paper reviews the fundamentals of the RCCE method, its constraints, constraint potential formulations, and major constraint selection techniques, as well as the application of the RCCE method to combustion of different fuels using a variety of combustion models. The RCCE method has been proven to be accurate and to reduce computational time in these simulations.

Accounting for uncertainty in RCCE species selection

A framework is presented to quantify, based on Bayesian evidence, the relative plausibility of species selection options in rate-controlled constrained equilibrium (RCCE) reduced chemical models, accounting for uncertainty in the kinetic parameters and experimental data used to refine them. This approach balances the joint goals of matching available data and avoiding overfitting, which is well-understood to limit extrapolative capacity for true prediction. The methodology is applied to homogeneous autoignition, where predictions are known to be particularly sensitive to chemical model details, specially at low temperatures. It is first introduced for hydrogen–air autoignition using an established mechanism, then demonstrated in two applications of methane–air autoignition using the larger GRI-1.2 mechanism. This larger mechanism significantly increases the computational cost of model selection (though not of the subsequent application in predictions), which is alleviated with a time-scale-guided pre-sorting strategy. Uses and extensions of this new formulation are discussed.

The Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Combustion Modeling of n-Pentane/Oxygen/Diluent Mixtures

Rate-controlled constrained equilibrium (RCCE) is a reduction technique used to describe the time evolution of complex chemical reacting systems. This method is based on the assumption that a nonequilibrium system can reach its final equilibrium state by a series of RCCE states determined by maximizing entropy or minimizing relevant free energy. Those constraints are imposed by some small number of slow reactions. Much research has been done on this method and many RCCE models of C1−C4 hydrocarbon fuel combustion have been established by the previous researchers. Those models show good performance compared with the result of detailed kinetic model (DKM). In this study, RCCE method is further developed to model normal pentane (n-C5H12) combustion with least number of constraints. The chemical mechanism for DKM contains 133 species and 922 reactions. Two sets of constraints were found during the study: (1) 16 constraints for the normal pentane and pure oxygen mixture and (2) 14 constraints for the mixture of normal pentane and oxygen with argon as diluent. Results of the first constraint set were compared with result of DKM and results of the second constraint set were compared with those of DKM and experimental data by calculating their ignition delay times. Comparisons showed that the first set of constraints had relatively good accuracy and the second set of constraints agreed very well with the experimental data.

The Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium combustion modeling of n-butane/oxygen/diluent mixtures

Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium (RCCE) is a model order reduction method which assumes that the non-equilibrium states of a system can be described by a sequence of constrained-equilibrium states subject to a small number of constraints. It can be used to predict ignition delay time with good accuracy and low computational cost. In this paper RCCE approach has been further developed for applying to the oxidation of n-butane for ignition study and prediction of a constant volume, constant internal energy system over a wide range of initial temperatures, pressures and equivalence ratios. The USC-Mech II (109 species and 781 reactions, without nitrogen chemistry) is chosen as chemical kinetic mechanism for n-butane oxidation for Detailed Kinetic Model (DKM). The constraint selection for n-butane/oxygen mixture starts from the eight universal constraints for carbon-fuel oxidation. Additional species constraints are selected based on researchers’ experience to have the best performance with the minimum number of constraints. The selected 17 constraints have been used to predict ignition delay times for butane combustion. The results of RCCE method are compared with those of detailed kinetic model and experimental data to verify the effectiveness of constraints and the efficiency of RCCE. Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium results show good agreements with DKM results under different initial temperatures, pressures and equivalence ratios. Even better performance than DKM has been achieved by the selected 17 constraints when the results are compared with shock tube experimental data from literature with initial temperatures 1200–1500 K and initial pressures 2–20 atm. It has been applied to predict the ignition delay time of butane/air mixture over a wide range of initial temperatures, initial pressures and equivalence ratios.

Combustion Simulation of Propane/Oxygen (With Nitrogen/Argon) Mixtures Using Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE), a model order reduction method, has been further developed to simulate the combustion of propane/oxygen mixture diluted with nitrogen or argon. The RCCE method assumes that the nonequilibrium states of a system can be described by a sequence of constrained-equilibrium states subject to a small number of constraints. The developed new RCCE approach is applied to the oxidation of propane in a constant volume, constant internal energy system over a wide range of initial temperatures and pressures. The USC-Mech II (109 species and 781 reactions, without nitrogen chemistry) is chosen as chemical kinetic mechanism for propane oxidation for both detailed kinetic model (DKM) and RCCE method. The derivation for constraints of propane/oxygen mixture starts from the eight universal constraints for carbon-fuel oxidation. The universal constraints are the elements (C, H, O), number of moles, free valence, free oxygen, fuel, and fuel radicals. The full set of constraints contains eight universal constraints and seven additional constraints. The results of RCCE method are compared with the results of DKM to verify the effectiveness of constraints and the efficiency of RCCE. The RCCE results show good agreement with DKM results under different initial temperature and pressures, and RCCE also reduces at least 60% CPU time. Further validation is made by comparing the experimental data; RCCE shows good agreement with shock tube experimental data.

Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Application in Shock Tube Ignition Delay Time Simulation

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE), a model order reduction method, assumes that the nonequilibrium states of a system can be described by a sequence of constrained-equilibrium kinetically controlled by relatively a small number of constraints within acceptable accuracies. The full chemical composition at each constrained-equilibrium state is obtained by maximizing (or minimizing) the appropriate thermodynamic quantities, e.g., entropy (or Gibbs functions) subject to the instantaneous values of the constraints. Regardless of the nature of the kinetic constraints, RCCE always guarantees correct final equilibrium state. Ignition delay times measured in shock tube experiments with low initial temperatures are significantly shorter than the values obtained by constant volume models. Low initial temperatures and thus longer shock tube test times cause nonideal heat transfer and fluid flow effects such as boundary layer growth and shock wave attenuation to gradually increase the pressure (and simultaneously increase the temperature) before ignition. To account for these effects, in this paper, the RCCE prescribed enthalpy and pressure (prescribed h/p) model has been further developed and has been applied to methane shock tube ignition delay time simulation using GRI-Mech 3.0. Excellent agreement between RCCE predictions and shock tube experimental data was achieved.

Rate-controlled constrained equilibrium for large hydrocarbon fuels with NTC

The rate-controlled constrained equilibrium (RCCE) method is a thermodynamic-based dimension reduction method that enables the representation of a reactive system involving chemical species in terms of a smaller number, , of constraints and thus reduces the computational burden imposed by detailed chemical kinetics. The application of RCCE for large hydrocarbon fuels like n-heptane has rarely been reported due to the challenges in the specification of constraints. In this study, a systematic approach of constraint specifications for hydrocarbon fuels with negative temperature coefficients behaviour has been proposed. Specifically, the bimolecular species lumping consistent with partial equilibrium assumption (PEA) makes the thermodynamics-based constrained equilibrium manifolds a good approximation to the actual kinetics-controlled slow invariant manifolds in reactive systems. Sensitivity-aided optimisation for species constraints has been formulated to improve the prediction of two-stage ignition. Two sets of optimised constraints for high- and low-temperature ignitions e.g., High-T C and Low-T C with 47 and 48 constraints have been developed from an 88-species n-heptane skeletal mechanism. The method has been successfully demonstrated in the two-stage auto-ignition of n-heptane/air mixture over a wide range of pressures and temperatures. The results show that the dynamics predicted with RCCE agree well with that from the full description. The one-dimensional laminar flame propagation simulation demonstrates that the constraints from auto-ignition can be applied for flame simulations and the RCCE reduced description of flame is less sensitive to the selection of constraints. Moreover, a more compact RCCE description with only 16 species constraints is capable of accurate prediction of the flame propagation process.

Reduction of a detailed chemical mechanism for a kerosene surrogate via RCCE-CSP

Detailed mechanisms for kerosene surrogate fuels contain hundreds of species and thousands of reactions, indicating a necessity for reduced mechanisms. In this work, we employ a framework that combines Rate-Controlled Constrained Equilibrium (RCCE) with Computational Singular Perturbation (CSP) for systematic reduction based on timescale analysis, to reduce a detailed mechanism for a jet fuel surrogate with n-dodecane, methylcyclohexane and m-xylene. Laminar non-premixed flamelets are utilised for the CSP analysis for different strain rates and therefore different scalar dissipation rate, covering the flammable region of strain rates for the surrogate fuel.Two RCCE-reduced mechanisms are developed via an RCCE-CSP methodology, one with 17 and one with 42 species, and their accuracy is assessed in a range of cases that test the performance of the reduced mechanism under both non-premixed and premixed conditions and its dynamic response. These include non-premixed flamelets with varying strain rate, laminar premixed flames for a range of equivalence ratios and pressures, flamelets ignited by an artificial pilot or by hot air, and unsteady flamelets with time-dependent strain rate.The profiles of both major and minor species, as well as important combustion characteristics such as the ignition strain rate and the laminar flame speed, are investigated. The structure of non-premixed flamelets is very well predicted, while the premixed flames are overall well predicted apart from a few deviations in certain species and an underprediction in the laminar flame speed. Apart from the large reduction in dimensionality, the reduction in computational time is also considerable (up to 19 times). As the detailed mechanism comprises 367 species and 1892 reactions, this paper presents the first application of RCCE to a mechanism of this size, as well as a comprehensive validation in a set of cases that include non-premixed and premixed laminar flames, atmospheric and elevated pressures and steady-state and dynamic response.

Validation of the ASVDADD Constraint Selection Algorithm for Effective RCCE Modeling of Natural Gas Ignition in Air

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE) model reduction scheme for chemical kinetics provides acceptable accuracies in predicting hydrocarbon ignition delays by solving a smaller number of differential equations than the number of species in the underlying detailed kinetic model (DKM). To yield good approximations, the method requires accurate identification of the rate controlling constraints. Until recently, a drawback of the RCCE scheme has been the absence of a systematic procedure capable of identifying optimal constraints for a given range of thermodynamic conditions and a required level of approximation. A recent methodology has proposed for such identification an algorithm based on a simple algebraic analysis of the results of a preliminary simulation of the underlying DKM, focused on the degrees of disequilibrium (DoD) of the individual chemical reactions. It is based on computing an approximate singular value decomposition of the actual degrees of disequilibrium (ASVDADD) obtained from the DKM simulation. The effectiveness and robustness of the method have been demonstrated for methane/oxygen ignition by considering a C1/H/O (29 species/133 reactions) submechanism of the GRI-Mech 3.0 scheme and comparing the results of a DKM simulation with those of RCCE simulations based on increasing numbers of ASVDADD constraints. Here, we demonstrate the new method for shock-tube ignition of a natural gas/air mixture, with higher hydrocarbons approximately represented by propane according to the full (53 species/325 reactions) GRI-Mech 3.0 scheme including NOx formation.

Tabulation of combustion chemistry via Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs): Methodology and application to LES-PDF simulation of Sydney flame L

In this work, a methodology for the tabulation of combustion mechanisms via Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is presented. The objective of the methodology is to train the ANN using samples generated via an abstract problem, such that they span the composition space of a family of combustion problems. The abstract problem in this case is an ensemble of laminar flamelets with an artificial pilot in mixture fraction space to emulate ignition, of varying strain rate up to well into the extinction range. The composition space thus covered anticipates the regions visited in a typical simulation of a non-premixed flame. The ANN training consists of two-stage process: clustering of the composition space into subdomains using the Self-Organising Map (SOM) and regression within each subdomain via the multilayer Perceptron (MLP). The approach is then employed to tabulate a mechanism of CH4–air combustion, based on GRI 1.2 and reduced via Rate-Controlled Constrained Equilibrium (RCCE) and Computational Singular Perturbation (CSP). The mechanism is then applied to simulate the Sydney flame L, a turbulent non-premixed flame that features significant levels of local extinction and re-ignition. The flow field is resolved through Large Eddy Simulation (LES), while the transported probability density function (PDF) approach is employed for modelling the turbulence–chemistry interaction and solved numerically via the stochastic fields method. Results demonstrate reasonable agreement with experiments, indicating that the SOM-MLP approach provides a good representation of the composition space, while the great savings in CPU time allow for a simulation to be performed with a comprehensive combustion model, such as the LES-PDF, with modest CPU resources such as a workstation.

A methodology for derivation of RCCE-reduced mechanisms via CSP

The development of reduced chemical mechanisms in a systematic way has emerged as a potential solution to the problem of incorporating the increasingly large chemical mechanisms into turbulent combustion CFD codes. In this work, a methodology is proposed for developing reduced mechanisms with Rate-Controlled Constrained Equilibrium (RCCE) via a Computational Singular Perturbation (CSP) analysis of counterflow non-premixed flamelets. An ordering of species for variable strain rates is derived by integrating over mixture fraction space a modified CSP pointer that depends on the timescale and mass fraction of each chemical species. Subsequently, a global set of kinetically controlled species is identified from weighting the local ordering for each strain rate. RCCE simulations with the derived reduced mechanisms for methane with 16 species and for propane with 27 species are compared with the integration of the detailed mechanisms GRI 1.2 and USC-Mech-II, respectively. The applicability of the methodology is demonstrated in non-premixed flames for several strain rates, in non-premixed flames ignited with a pilot in order to test the dynamics and ignition of the reduced schemes, in premixed flames for different equivalence ratios and subsequently in perfectly stirred reactors for ignition delay times for varying temperature, pressure and equivalence ratio. Overall very good agreement is obtained, indicating that the methodology can produce reliable mechanisms for different fuels and for a wide range of conditions, including dynamical behaviour and conditions different from those employed for the derivation of the mechanism.

Rate-Controlled Constrained Equilibrium for Nozzle and Shock Flows

The performance of different constraints for the rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE) method is investigated in the context of modeling reacting flows characteristic of hypervelocity ground testing facilities and reentry conditions. Although the RCCE approach has been used widely in the past, its application in non-combustion-based reacting flows is rarely done; the flows being investigated in this work do not contain species that can easily be classified as reactants and/or products. The effectiveness of different constraints is investigated before running a full computational simulation, and new constraints not reported in the existing literature are introduced. A constraint based on the enthalpy of formation is shown to work well for the two gas models used for flows that involve both shocks and steady expansions.

Selection of appropriate constraints for dimension reduction in MILD combustion simulations via RCCE

Modeling MILD (Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution) combustion is well known to be computationally demanding due to the need of an accurate description of the chemistry, because the low Damköhler number. The present work investigates the potentials of Rate-Controlled Constrained Equilibrium for the dimension reduction of kinetic schemes for a burner fed with a mixture of ethylene and air emulating MILD combustion conditions. A method based on the Computational Singular Perturbation theory is proposed for the identification of the species to be retained in the reduced representation of the chemistry. A significant reduction was achieved by using only 10 species (out of 34 species in the full kinetic scheme) and 3 elements; the results from the reduced model were in very good agreement with those of the full kinetic scheme. The sensitivity of predictions to the turbulence and combustion models was also preliminary assessed, indicating the need of modifying the residence time constant of the Eddy Dissipation Concept for MILD combustion conditions.

A kinetics-based method for constraint selection in rate-controlled constrained equilibrium

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE) method is a thermodynamics-based dimension reduction method that enables representation of chemistry involving ns chemical species in terms of a smaller number, nr, of constraints, and thus reduces the computational burden imposed by detailed chemical kinetics. The accuracy in the reduced description by RCCE strongly depends on the specification of constraints. In this work, the connection between the RCCE method and the conventional partial equilibrium assumption (PEA) method is revisited. It is shown that with the constraints being specified based on rate-controlling slow reactions, the RCCE method is equivalent to PEA. A criterion based on time scale analysis is then employed for the identification of fast reactions. Then the importance index, which represents the contribution of individual species to the slow dynamics of a reactive system, is proposed for the selection of species constraints in RCCE. This makes the thermodynamics-based constrained equilibrium manifolds (CEMs) a good approximation to the actual kinetics-controlled slow invariant manifolds (SIMs) in reactive systems. The method is demonstrated in the reduced descriptions of perfectly stirred reactors (PSRs) burning stoichiometric methane/air mixtures. Sample reaction states ranging from near-equilibrium conditions to the extinction turning points on the S-curve are examined for the identification of fast reactions and species constraints. Reduced descriptions of transient PSRs by RCCE are subsequently performed with their accuracy assessed against the full descriptions, in which all the chemical species are transported. The study shows that the dynamics predicted by RCCE agrees well with that from the full description and that near-limit reaction states are important for the selection of species constraints in RCCE.

Spectral Quasi-Equilibrium Manifold for Chemical Kinetics.

The Spectral Quasi-Equilibrium Manifold (SQEM) method is a model reduction technique for chemical kinetics based on entropy maximization under constraints built by the slowest eigenvectors at equilibrium. The method is revisited here and discussed and validated through the Michaelis-Menten kinetic scheme, and the quality of the reduction is related to the temporal evolution and the gap between eigenvalues. SQEM is then applied to detailed reaction mechanisms for the homogeneous combustion of hydrogen, syngas, and methane mixtures with air in adiabatic constant pressure reactors. The system states computed using SQEM are compared with those obtained by direct integration of the detailed mechanism, and good agreement between the reduced and the detailed descriptions is demonstrated. The SQEM reduced model of hydrogen/air combustion is also compared with another similar technique, the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium (RCCE). For the same number of representative variables, SQEM is found to provide a more accurate description.

Degree of Disequilibrium analysis for automatic selection of kinetic constraints in the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium method

The Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium (RCCE) model reduction scheme for chemical kinetics provides acceptable accuracies with a number of differential equations much lower than the number of species in the underlying Detailed Kinetic Model (DKM). To yield good approximations, however, the method requires accurate identification of the rate controlling constraints. So far, a drawback of the RCCE scheme has been the absence of a fully automatable and systematic procedure that is capable of identifying the best constraints for a given range of thermodynamic conditions and a required level of approximation. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for such identification based on a simple algebraic analysis of the results of a preliminary simulation of the underlying DKM, which is focused on the behaviour of the degrees of disequilibrium (DoD) of the individual chemical reactions. The new methodology is based on computing an Approximate Reduced Row Echelon Form of the Actual Degrees of Disequilibrium (ARREFADD) with respect to a preset tolerance level. An alternative variant is to select an Approximate Singular Value Decomposition of the Actual Degrees of Disequilibrium (ASVDADD). Either procedure identifies a low dimensional subspace in the DoD space, from which the actual DoD traces do not depart beyond a fixed distance related to the preset tolerance (ARREFADD methodology) or to the first neglected singular value of the matrix of DoD traces (ASVDADD methodology). The effectiveness and robustness of the method is demonstrated for the case of a very rapid supersonic nozzle expansion of the products of hydrogen and methane oxycombustion and for the case of methane/oxygen ignition. The results are in excellent agreement with DKM predictions. For both variants of the method, we provide a simple Matlab code implementing the proposed constraint selection algorithm.

A Study of Interactions between Mixing and Chemical Reaction Using the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Method

AbstractThe rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium (RCCE) method is employed to study the interactions between mixing and chemical reaction. Considering that mixing can influence the RCCE state, the key objective is to assess the accuracy and numerical performance of the method in simulations involving both reaction and mixing. The RCCE formulation includes rate equations for constraint potentials, density and temperature, which allows taking account of mixing alongside chemical reaction without splitting. The RCCE is a dimension reduction method for chemical kinetics based on thermodynamics laws. It describes the time evolution of reacting systems using a series of constrained-equilibrium states determined by RCCE constraints. The full chemical composition at each state is obtained by maximizing the entropy subject to the instantaneous values of the constraints. The RCCE is applied to a spatially homogeneous constant pressure partially stirred reactor (PaSR) involving methane combustion in oxygen. Simulations are carried out over a wide range of initial temperatures and equivalence ratios. The chemical kinetics, comprised of 29 species and 133 reaction steps, is represented by 12 RCCE constraints. The RCCE predictions are compared with those obtained by direct integration of the same kinetics, termed detailed kinetics model (DKM). The RCCE shows accurate prediction of combustion in PaSR with different mixing intensities. The method also demonstrates reduced numerical stiffness and overall computational cost compared to DKM.

Development of the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium Method for Modeling of Ethanol Combustion

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium method (RCCE) has been further developed to model the combustion process of ethanol air mixtures. The RCCE is a reduction technique based on local maximization of entropy or minimization of a relevant free energy at any time during the nonequilibrium evolution of the system subject to a set of kinetic constraints. An important part of RCCE calculation is determination of a set of constraints that can guide the nonequilibrium mixture to the final stable equilibrium state. In this study, 16 constraints have been developed to model the nonequilibrium ethanol combustion process. The method requires solution of 16 differential equations for the corresponding constraint potentials. Ignition delay calculations of ethanol oxidizer mixtures using RCCE have been compared to those of detailed chemical kinetics using 37 species and 235 reactions. Agreement between the two models is very good. In addition, ignition delay of C2H5OH/O2/Ar mixtures using RCCE has been compared with the experimental measurements in the shock tube and excellent agreement has been reached validating the RCCE calculation.