A comparative experimental and computational study of methanol, ethanol, and n-butanol flames

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Combustion and Flame

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.COMBUSTFLAME.2010.04.001· OSTI ID:21350375

Veloo, Peter S; Wang, Yang L; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N ^[1]; Westbrook, Charles K ^[2]

---

1. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453 (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)

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. (author)

• OSTI ID: 21350375
• Journal Information: Combustion and Flame, Journal Name: Combustion and Flame Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 157; ISSN CBFMAO; ISSN 0010-2180
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BUTANE
BUTANOLS
COMBUSTION KINETICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COUNTERFLOW SYSTEMS
ETHANE
ETHANOL
EXTRAPOLATION
FLAME EXTINCTION
FLAME PROPAGATION
Kinetic models
LAMINAR FLAMES
METHANE
METHANOL
MIXTURES
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
OXIDATION
PRESSURE RANGE KILO PA
REACTION INTERMEDIATES
STRAIN RATE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
VELOCITY