Reduced combustion time model for methane in gas turbine flow fields

Computational fluid dynamics （CFD） modeling of the complex processes that occur within the burner of a gas turbine engine has become a critical step in the design process. However, due to computer limitations, it is very difficult to completely couple the fluid mechanics solver with the full combustion chemistry. Therefore, simplified chemistry models are required, and the topic of this research was to provide reduced chemistry models for CH4/O2 gas turbine flow fields to be integrated into CFD codes for the simulation of flow fields of natural gas-fueled burners. The reduction procedure for the CH4/O2 model utilized a response modeling technique wherein the full mechanism was solved over a range of temperatures, pressures, and mixture ratios to establish the response of a particular variable, namely the chemical reaction time. The conditions covered were between 1000 and 2500 K for temperature, 0.1 and 2 for equivalence ratio in air, and 0.1 and 50 atm for pressure. The kinetic time models in the form of ignition time correlations are given in Arrhenius-type formulas as functions of equivalence ratio, temperature, and pressure; or fuel-to-air ratio, temperature, and pressure. A single ignition time model was obtained for the entire range of conditions, and separate models for the low-temperature and high-temperature regions as well as for fuel-lean and rich cases were also derived. Predictions using the reduced model were verified using results from the full mechanism and empirical correlations from experiments. The models are intended for （but not limited to） use in CFD codes for flow field simulations of gas turbine combustors in which initial conditions and degree of mixedness of the fuel and air are key factors in achieving stable and robust combustion processes and acceptable emission levels. The chemical time model was utilized successfully in CFD simulations of a generic gas turbine combustor with four different cases with various levels of fuel-air premixing.

Effects of the critical breakdown path on the ignition performance in heaterless hollow cathodes

The critical breakdown path(CBP)has a significant impact on the breakdown voltage curve and the ignition time of heaterless hollow cathodes(HHCs).To determine the pattern of the variation in the CBP position and its impact on ignition performance,a numerical model named the CBP evaluation(CBPE)was established in this paper to calculate the CBP of a HHC.The CBPE model can be used to screen various potential breakdown paths to identify those that are most likely to satisfy the Townsend breakdown conditions,which are denoted as CBPs.To verify the calculation accuracy of the CBPE model,4.5 A-level HHC ignition tests were conducted on HHCs with three different structures.By comparing the test results and the calculated results of the breakdown voltage,the calculation errors of the CBPE under three HHC conditions ranged from 1.6%to 5.8%,and the trends of the calculated results were consistent with those of the test results.The ignition test also showed the characteristics of the breakdown voltage curve and the ignition time for the three HHCs.Based on the CBPE model,an in-depth analysis was conducted on the mechanism of the patterns revealed by the tests.The main conclusions are presented as follows:(1)the CBP always shifts from the long path to the short path in the HHCs with an increasing gas flow rate;and(2)the ignition time of the HHCs depends on the position of the CBP because different CBP positions can cause different mechanisms of heat transfer from the plasma to the emitter.This study can guide the optimization of the CBP position and the corresponding ignition times of HHCs.

Shock tube study of n-decane ignition at low pressures

Ignition delay times for n-decane/O2/Ar mixtures were measured behind reflected shock waves using endwall pressure and CH＊ emission measurements in a heated shock tube. The initial postshock conditions cover pressures of 0.09-0.26 MPa, temperatures of 1 227-1 536 K, and oxygen mole fractions of 3.9%-20.7% with an equivalence ratio of 1.0. The correlation formula of ignition delay dependence on pressure, temperature, and oxygen mole fraction was obtained. The current data are in good agreement with available low-pressure experimental data, and they are then compared with the prediction of a kinetic mechanism. The current measurements extend the kinetic modeling targets for the n-decane combustion at low pressures.

Engine performance and combustion characteristics of a direct injection compression ignition engine fueled waste cooking oil synthetic diesel

Biodiesels produced from various feedstocks have been considered as alternative fuels used in internal combustion engines without major modifications.This research focuses on producing biodiesel from waste cooking oil(WCOSD)by the catalytic cracking method using MgO as the catalyst and comparing the engine operating characteristics of the test engine when using WCOSD and traditional diesel(CD)as test fuels.As a result,the brake power of the test engine fueled WCOSD,and traditional diesel is similar.However,the engine fuel consumption in the case of using WCOSD is slight increases in some operating conditions.Also,the nitrogen oxides emissions of the test engine fueled WCOSD are higher than those of CD at all tested conditions.The trend is opposite for hydrocarbon emission as the HC emission of the engine fueled by WCOSD reduces 26.3%on average.The smoke emission of the test engine in case of using WCOSD is lower 17%on average than that of CD.However,the carbon monoxide emissions are lower at the low and medium loads and higher at the full loads.These results show that the new biodiesel has the same characteristics as those of commercial biodiesel and can be used as fuel for diesel engines.

IGNITING SHS BY LASER AND ITS APPLICATION TO SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING OF METALLIC POWDER MATERIAL

How to directly fabricate metallic functional parts with selective laser sintering (SLS) process is a potential technique that scientists are researching. Existent problems during directly fabricating metal part by use of SLS are analyzed. For the sake of solving the problems, a new idea of adding self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) material into metallic powder material to form new type of SLS metallic powder material is put forward. This powder material can release controllable amount of heat during its interaction with the laser beam energy to reduce the requirement to laser power during directly sintering metallic part, to prolong the time of metallic liquid phase existing, and to improve the intensity and accuracy of SLS part. For this reason, SHS material′s interaction with the CO2 laser beam energy is researched, which proves that CO2 laser beam energy may instantly ignite SHS reaction. On the basis of the above-mentioned researches, the effect of sintering the metal powder material mixing SHS material with CO2 laser is also researched, which shows: there is an optimal blending ratio of various material in the new metallic powder material. Under the optimal blending ratio and SLS process parameters, this new metallic powder material can indeed release amount of heat and SHS reaction may be controlled within the laser sintering. This research result makes it possible that the metallic part is directly sintered with small CO2 laser (less than 50W), which may greatly reduce the volume, cost and running expenditure of SLS machine, be propitious to application.

Development of efficient and accurate skeletal mechanisms for hydrocarbon fuels and kerosene surrogate

In this paper,the methodology of the directed relation graph with error propagation and sensitivity analysis（DRGEPSA）,proposed by Niemeyer et al.（Combust Flame 157：1760-1770.2010）.and its differences to the original directed relation graph method are described.Using DRGEPSA,the detailed mechanism of ethylene containing 71 species and 395 reaction steps is reduced to several skeletal mechanisms with different error thresholds.The 25-species and 131-step mechanism and the 24-species and115-step mechanism are found to be accurate for the predictions of ignition delay time and laminar flame speed.Although further reduction leads to a smaller skeletal mechanism with 19 species and 68 steps,it is no longer able to represent the correct reaction processes.With the DRGEPSA method,a detailed mechanism for n-dodecane considering low-temperature chemistry and containing 2115 species and8157 steps is reduced to a much smaller mechanism with249 species and 910 steps while retaining good accuracy.If considering only high-temperature（higher than 1000 K）applications,the detailed mechanism can be simplified to even smaller mechanisms with 65 species and 340 steps or48 species and 220 steps.Furthermore,a detailed mechanism for a kerosene surrogate having 207 species and 1592 steps is reduced with various error thresholds and the results show that the 72-species and 429-step mechanism and the66-species and 392-step mechanism are capable of predicting correct combustion properties compared to those of the detailed mechanism.It is well recognized that kinetic mechanisms can be effectively used in computations only after they are reduced to an acceptable size level for computation capacity and at the same time retaining accuracy.Thus,the skeletal mechanisms generated from the present work are expected to be useful for the application of kinetic mechanisms of hydrocarbons to numerical simulations of turbulent or supersonic combustion.

Effect of the high-power electromagnetic pulses on the reactivity of the coal-water slurry in hot environment

An effect of the high-power electromagnetic pulses onto the droplet of coal-water slurry inside the furnace was investigated.In contrary to the previously investigated laser-induced fuel atomization that occurs at the room temperature,the pre-heated(to 400 K)slurry becomes dry enough to prevent the explosion-like steam formation.Thus,fuel does not atomize and the ignition does not accelerate.Furthermore,the absorption of several laser pulses leads to evident sintering of irradiated surface with following increase of the ignition delay time for up to 24%.Variation of the pulse energy in range 48-118 mJ(corresponding intensity up to 2.4 J·cm^-2)leads to certain variation of the increase of ignition delay.The strong pulsed overheating of the coal water slurry which does not initiate the fine atomization of the fuel generally makes its ignition longer.

A Chemical Kinetics Perspective on the High-Temperature Oxidation of Methane and Propane through Experiments and Kinetic Analysis

In the conversion of methane and propane under high temperature and pressure,the ignition delay time(IDT)is a key parameter to consider for designing an inherently safe process.In this study,the IDT characteristics of methane and propane(700–1000 K,10–20 bar)were studied experimentally and using kinetic modeling tools at stoichiometric fuel-tooxygen ratios.All the experiments were conducted through insentropic compression.The reliable experimental data were obtained by using the adiabatic core hypothesis,which can be used to generate and validate the detailed chemical kinetics model.The IDTs of methane and propane were recorded by a rapid compression machine(RCM)and compared to the predicted values obtained by the NUIGMech 3.0 mechanism.To test the applicability of NUIGMech 3.0 under different reaction conditions,the influence of temperature in the range of 700–1000 K(and the influence of pressure in the range of 10–20 bar)on the IDT was studied.The results showed that NUIGMech 3.0 could reasonably reproduce the experimentally determined IDT under the wide range of conditions studied.The constant volume chemical kinetics model was used to reveal the effect of temperature on the elementary reaction,and the negative temperature coefficient(NTC)behavior of propane was also observed at 20 bar.The experimental data can serve as a reference for the correction and application of kinetic data,as well as provide a theoretical basis for the safe conversion of low-carbon hydrocarbon chemicals.

Fire sensitivity of broadleaf tree species in plantations of Kurdistan,Iran

To better manage wildfires and plantations in Kurdistan,native tree species commonly used in planting and reviving forests such as Quercus brantii Lindl.,Q.infectoria Olivier,Q.libani Olivier,Pistachio atlantica Desf.,Fraxinus rotundifolia Vahl,and Robinia pseudoacacia L.were evaluated and compared in terms of fire sensitivity and fire resistance.To determine fire sensitivity,indices such as the fl ammability index,ignition time,fl ame durability,moisture content,carbonized surface,mass reduction,bulk density,as well as dry weight of wood,bark,and leaves were used.The data were subjected to ANOVA.The means obtained,after examining homogeneity or heterogeneity of the variances,were compared using parametric and nonparametric comparison tests.There was a significant difference at the level of 5%.Based on the analysis of these indices,the species could be divided into three groups:species sensitive to fire such as Robinia pseudoacacia,species moderately sensitive to fire such as F.rotundifolia,and species relatively resistant to fire,including Q.brantii,Q.libani,Q.infectoria,and P.atlantica.

Effect of plasma on combustion characteristics of boron

As it is very difficult to release boron energy completely, kinetic mechanism of boron is not clear, which leads to the lack of theoretical guidance for studying how to accelerate boron combustion. A new semi-empirical boron combustion model is built on the King combustion model, which contains a chemical reaction path; two new methods of plasma-assisted boron combustion based on kinetic and thermal effects respectively are built on the ZDPLASKIN zero-dimensional plasma model. A plasma-supporting system is constructed based on the planar flame, discharge characteristics and the spectral characteristics of plasma and boron combustion are analyzed. The results show that discharge power does not change the sorts of excited-particles, but which can change the concentration of excited-particles. Under this experimental condition,plasma kinetic effect will become the strongest at the discharge power of 40 W; when the discharge power is less than 40 W,plasma mainly has kinetic effect, otherwise plasma has thermal effect. Numerical simulation result based on plasma kinetic effect is consistent with the experimental result at the discharge power of 40 W, and boron ignition delay time is shortened by 53.8% at the discharge power of 40 W, which indicates that plasma accelerates boron combustion has reaction kinetic paths, while the ability to accelerate boron combustion based on thermal effect is limited.

An experimental and modeling study of n-hexadecane autoignition under low-to-intermediate temperatures

N-hexadecane is a potential candidate of diesel surrogate fuels and is also the largest linear alkane(n-alkanes)with known chemical kinetic models.The objective of this study is to investigate the autoignition characteristics of n-hexadecane in the lowto-intermediate temperature region and to validate the existing kinetic models.In this study,the ignition delay times(IDTs)of nhexadecane were measured using a heated rapid compression machine(RCM)at two pressures of 7 and 10 bar,and over equivalence ratios ranging from 0.5 to 1.3.Two-stage ignition characteristic and the negative temperature coefficient(NTC)behavior of total ignition delay time were experimentally captured.This study paid special attention to the influence of pressure,equivalence ratio,and oxygen content on the IDTs of n-hexadecane.It is observed that both the total IDTs and the first-stage IDTs decrease with the rise of those parameters.It is worth noting that the first-stage IDT is found to show a greater dependence on temperature but a weaker dependence on other parameters compared to the total IDT.The observed IDT dependence in the lowtemperature region(LTR)were quantitatively described by ignition delay time correlations.The newly measured IDTs were then validated against two kinetic models(LLNL and CRECK).Simulation results show that both models underpredict the first-stage IDT but generally capture the temperature dependence.The CRECK model well predicts the total IDTs of n-hexadecane while the LLNL model significantly underpredicts the total IDTs at most investigated conditions.To the best of our knowledge,this study is the first investigation on n-hexadecane autoignition under low-to-intermediate temperatures,which deepens the understanding of large n-alkane oxidation and contributes to the improvement of the existing kinetic models.

Statistical characteristics of spray autoignition of transient kerosene jet in cross flow

To study statistical characteristics of the random spray autoignition,aviation kerosene was injected transiently into non-vitiated air crossflow in a flow reactor with optical accesses.The operating conditions were relevant to gas turbine combustor:the air crossflow pressure and temperature were in the range of 1.4-1.7 MPa and 830-947 K,respectively,and the jet-tocrossflow momentum flux ratios were 20,50 and 80.Statistical distributions of random ignition delay times with adequate convergence were estimated based on histograms.The dependences of the distributions on reactor pressure,temperature,and jet-to-crossflow momentum flux ratio were studied.The results show that the resulting distributions appear more concentrated with the increase of air temperature or jet-to-crossflow momentum flux ratio.And then the correlations for the mean and standard deviation of the ignition delay time sample data were developed based on the present results.Compared with the correlations of ignition delay time of homogeneous premixed gas-phase kerosene/air mixture reported in the literature,the results show a greater significance pressure dependence and lower temperature sensitivity of the ignition delay time of nonpremixed kerosene spray.

Implication of Sensitive Reactions to Ignition of Methyl Pentanoate:H-Abstraction Reactions by H and CH_(3) Radicals

Methyl pentanoate(MP)was identified as a potential candidate.To facilitate the application of MP with high efficiency in engines,a comprehensive understanding of combustion chemical kinetics of MP is necessary.In this work,the H-abstraction reactions from MP by H and CH_(3) radicals,critical in controlling the initial fuel consumption,are theoretically investigated at the DLPNO-CCSD(T)/CBS(T-Q)//M06-2X/cc-pVTZ level of theory.The multistructural torsional(MS-T)anharmonicity is characterized using the dual-level MS-T method;the HF/3-21G and M06-2X/cc-pVTZ methods are chosen as the low-and high-level methods,respectively.The conventional transition state theory(TST)is employed to calculate the high-pressure limit rate constants at 298-2000 K with the Eckart tunneling correction.Our calculations indicate that the hydrogen atoms of the methylene functional group are easier to be abstracted by H and CH_(3) radicals.The multistructural torsional anharmonicities of H-abstraction reactions MP+H/CH_(3) are significant within the temperature range investigated.The tunneling effects are more pronounced at low temperatures,and contribute considerably to the rate constants below 500 K.The model from the work of Diévart et al.is updated with our calculations,and the simulations of the updated model are in excellent agreement with the reported ignition delay time of MP/O2/Ar and MP/Air mixtures.The sensitivity analysis indicates that the H-abstraction reactions,MP+H-CH_(3)CH_(2)CHCH_(2)C(-O)OCH_(3)/CH_(3)CHCH_(2)CH_(2)C(-O)OCH_(3)+H2,are critical in controlling the initial fuel consumption and ignition delay time of MP.

Synthesis and Improved Properties of Hypergolic Boronium-Based Ionic Liquids

A series of asymmetric monoimidazolium dihydroboronium-based ionic liquids （ILs） were synthesized from amine-boranes. All the resulting ILs were fully characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis or high resolution mass spectrum. Compared with the symmetric bisimidazolium dihydroboronium-based ILs, these new ILs exhibited improved properties with shorter ignition delay times （IDs）, higher densities, and lower phase transition temperature showing the promising application potential as green propellants. A series of asymmetric monoimidazolium dihydroboronium-based ionic liquids （ILs） were synthesized from amine-boranes. All the resulting ILs were fully characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, IR spectroscopy, elemental anal- ysis or high resolution mass spectrum. Compared with the symmetric bisimidazolium dihydroboronium-based ILs, these new ILs exhibited improved properties with shorter ignition delay times （IDs）, higher densities, and lower phase transition temperature showing the promising application potential as green propellants.

Flame Morphology and Characteristic of Co-Firing Ammonia with Pulverized Coal on a Flat Flame Burner

Ammonia as a new green carbon free fuel co-combustion with coal can effectively reduce CO_(2)emission,but the research of flame morphology and characteristics of ammonia-coal co-combustion are not enough.In this work,we studied the co-combustion flame of NH_(3)and pulverized coal on flat flame burner under different oxygen mole fraction(X_(i,O_(2)))and NH_(3)co-firing energy ratios(E_(NH_(3))).We initially observed that the introduction of ammonia resulted in stratification within the ammonia-coal co-combustion flame,featuring a transparent flame at the root identified as the ammonia combustion zone.Due to challenges in visually observing the ignition of coal particles in the ammonia-coal co-combustion flame,we utilized Matlab software to analyze flame images across varying E_(NH_(3))and X_(i,O_(2)).The analysis indicates that,compared to pure coal combustion,the addition of ammonia advances the ignition delay time by 4.21 ms to 5.94 ms.As E_(NH_(3))increases,the ignition delay time initially decreases and then increases.Simultaneously,an increase in X_(i,O_(2))results in an earlier ignition delay time.The burn-off time and the flame divergence angle of pulverized coal demonstrated linear decreases and increases,respectively,with the growing ammonia ratio.The addition of ammonia facilitates the release of volatile matter from coal particles.However,in high-ammonia environments,oxygen consumption also impedes the surface reaction of coal particles.Finally,measurements of gas composition in the ammonia-coal flame flow field unveiled that the generated water-rich atmosphere intensified coal particle gasification,resulting in an elevated concentration of CO.Simultaneously,nitrogen-containing substances and coke produced during coal particle gasification underwent reduction reactions with NO_(x),leading to reduced NO_(x)emissions.