A Comparative Experimental and Computational Study of Methanol, Ethanol, and n-Butanol Flames
Laminar flame speeds and extinction strain rates of premixed methanol, ethanol, and n-butanol flames were determined experimentally in the counterflow configuration at atmospheric pressure and elevated unburned mixture temperatures. Additional measurements were conducted also to determine the laminar flame speeds of their n-alkane/air counterparts, namely methane, ethane, and n-butane in order to compare the effect of alkane and alcohol molecular structures on high-temperature flame kinetics. For both propagation and extinction experiments the flow velocities were determined using the digital particle image velocimetry method. Laminar flame speeds were derived through a non-linear extrapolation approach based on direct numerical simulations of the experiments. Two recently developed detailed kinetics models of n-butanol oxidation were used to simulate the experiments. The experimental results revealed that laminar flame speeds of ethanol/air and n-butanol/air flames are similar to those of their n-alkane/air counterparts, and that methane/air flames have consistently lower laminar flame speeds than methanol/air flames. The laminar flame speeds of methanol/air flames are considerably higher compared to both ethanol/air and n-butanol/air flames under fuel-rich conditions. Numerical simulations of n-butanol/air freely propagating flames, revealed discrepancies between the two kinetic models regarding the consumption pathways of n-butanol and its intermediates.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Combustion Energy Frontier Research Center (CEFRC)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0001198
- OSTI ID:
- 1065135
- Journal Information:
- Combust. Flame, Vol. 157; Related Information: CEFRC partners with Princeton University (lead); Argonne National Laboratory; University of Connecticut; Cornell University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Minnesota; Sandia National Laboratories; University of Southern California; Stanford University; University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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