Simplified reaction mechanisms for the oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels have been examined using a numerical laminar flame model. The types of mechanisms studied include one and two global reaction steps as well as quasi-global mechanisms. Reaction rate parameters were varied in order to provide the best agreement between computed and experimentally observed flame speeds in selected mixtures of fuel and air. The influences of the various reaction rate parameters on the laminar flame properties have been identified, and a simple procedure to determine the best values for the reaction rate parameters is demonstrated. Fuels studied include n-paraffins from methane to n-decane, some methyl-substituted n-paraffins, acetylene, and representative olefin, alcohol and aromatic hydrocarbons. Results show that the often-employed choice of simultaneous first order fuel and oxidizer dependence for global rate expressions cannot yield the correct dependence of flame speed on equivalence ratio or pressure and can...

Simplified Reaction Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Hydrocarbon Fuels in Flames

Laminar diffusion flamelet models in non-premixed turbulent combustion

Chemical kinetic modeling of hydrocarbon combustion

Nonlinear analysis of hydrodynamic instability in laminar flames—I. Derivation of basic equations

A detailed kinetic mechanism has been developed to simulate the combustion of H2/O2 mixtures, over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and equivalence ratios. Over the series of experiments numerically investigated, the temperature ranged from 298 to 2700 K, the pressure from 0.05 to 87 atm, and the equivalence ratios from 0.2 to 6.

Ignition delay times, flame speeds, and species composition data provide for a stringent test of the chemical kinetic mechanism, all of which are simulated in the current study with varying success. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine which reactions were dominating the H2/O2 system at particular conditions of pressure, temperature, and fuel/oxygen/diluent ratios. Overall, good agreement was observed between the model and the wide range of experiments simulated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 603–622, 2004

G.E. Andrews

Papers

The burning velocity of methane-air mixtures

Determination of burning velocities: A critical review

Turbulence and turbulent flame propagation—A critical appraisal