Flammability limits of NH3–H2–N2–air mixtures at elevated initial temperatures

Experiments investigating the flammability of hydrogen and ammonia in air and of mixtures of these two fuels in air were performed in a 12.6-liter combustion vessel at an initial pressure of 1 atm and initial temperatures up to 600 °C. Flammability maps based on the limiting fuel concentration as a function of the initial temperature for the various mixtures were constructed. The flammability limit data obtained for both hydrogen and ammonia agreed well with data in the literature. The flammability limits for both hydrogen–air and ammonia–air were found to widen linearly with increased initial temperature. The lower flammability limits of hydrogen–ammonia–air mixtures at various initial temperatures were found to follow closely the Le Chatelier flammability limit mixing rule. Ammonia readily dissociates to hydrogen and nitrogen. The flammability limits of ammonia dissociation products mixed with pure ammonia and air were also measured at initial temperatures of 400, 500, and 600 °C. At each temperature it was found that as the mixture fraction consisting of dissociated ammonia increases the flammability envelope based on the volume fraction of air in the mixture also increases. The flammability limits for these mixtures were largely unchanged for temperatures between 400 and 600 °C except for the fuel-rich flammability limit which decreased significantly at 600 °C. This can be attributed to the slow reaction of the mixture during the vessel fill process before ignition. For experiments at 500 and 600 °C it was found that mixtures with a large fraction of dissociated ammonia autoignited upon injection into the test vessel. The range of mixtures that autoignited was larger at 600 °C than at 500 °C. For mixtures with a large fraction of dissociated ammonia, autoignition of the mixture prevented the measurement of the fuel-rich flammability limit.     

End-gas autoignition and knocking combustion of ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures in a confined reactor

End-gas autoignition and detonation development in ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures in a confined reactor is studied through detailed numerical simulations, to understand the knocking characteristics under IC engine relevant conditions. One-dimensional planar confined chamber filled with ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures is considered. Various initial end-gas temperature and hydrogen concentration in the binary fuels are considered. Homogeneous ignition of stochiometric ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures is firstly calculated. It is found that H₂ addition significantly promotes autoignition, even if the amount of addition is small. For ammonia/air mixtures and ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures with low hydrogen mole ratios, it is found from chemical explosive mode analysis results that NH₂ and H₂NO are most important nitrogen-containing species, and R49 (NH₂+NO<=>N₂+H₂O) is a crucial reaction during thermal runaway process. When the hydrogen mole ratio is high, the nitrogen-containing species and reactions on chemical explosive mode becomes less important. Moreover, a series of one-dimensional simulations are carried out. Three end-gas autoignition and combustion modes are observed, which includes forcibly ignited flame propagation, autoignition (no detonation), and developing detonation. These modes are identified within wide ranges of hydrogen contents and initial end-gas temperatures. Furthermore, chemical kinetics at the reaction front and autoignition initiation locations are also studied with chemical explosive mode analysis. Finally, different thermochemical conditions on knocking intensity and timing are investigated. It is found that a higher initial temperature or a higher H₂ content does not always lead to a higher knocking intensity, and the knocking timing decreases with the reactivity of end-gas.     

Physicochemical effects of varying fuel composition on knock characteristics of natural gas mixtures

The physicochemical origins of how changes in fuel composition affect autoignition of the end gas, leading to engine knock, are analyzed for a natural gas engine. Experiments in a lean-burn, high-speed medium-BMEP gas engine are performed using a reference natural gas with systematically varied fractions of admixed ethane, propane and hydrogen. Thermodynamic analysis of the measured non-knocking pressure histories shows that, in addition to the expected changes arising from changes in the heat capacity of the mixture, changes in the combustion duration relative to the compression cycle (the combustion “phasing”) caused by variations in burning velocity dominate the effects of fuel composition on the temperature (and pressure) of the end gas. Thus, despite the increase in the heat capacity of the fuel–air mixture with addition of ethane and propane, the change in combustion phasing is actually seen to increase the maximum end-gas temperature slightly for these fuel components. By the same token, the substantial change in combustion duration upon hydrogen addition strongly increases the end-gas temperature, beyond that caused by the decrease in mixture heat capacity. The impact of these variations in in-cylinder conditions on the knock tendency of the fuel have been assessed using autoignition delay times computed using SENKIN and a detailed chemical mechanism for the end gas under the conditions extant in the engine. The results show that the ignition-promoting effect of hydrogen is mainly the result of the increase in end-gas temperature and pressure, while addition of ethane and propane promotes ignition primarily by changing the chemical autoignition behavior of the fuel itself. Comparison of the computed end-gas autoignition delay time, based on the complete measured pressure history of each gas, with the measured Knock-Limited Spark Timing shows that the computed delay time accurately reflects the measured knock tendency of the fuels.     

Autoignited laminar lifted flames of methane, ethylene, ethane, and n-butane jets in coflow air with elevated temperature

The autoignition characteristics of laminar lifted flames of methane, ethylene, ethane, and n-butane fuels have been investigated experimentally in coflow air with elevated temperature over 800 K. The lifted flames were categorized into three regimes depending on the initial temperature and fuel mole fraction: (1) non-autoignited lifted flame, (2) autoignited lifted flame with tribrachial (or triple) edge, and (3) autoignited lifted flame with mild combustion.For the non-autoignited lifted flames at relatively low temperature, the existence of lifted flame depended on the Schmidt number of fuel, such that only the fuels with Sc > 1 exhibited stationary lifted flames. The balance mechanism between the propagation speed of tribrachial flame and local flow velocity stabilized the lifted flames. At relatively high initial temperatures, either autoignited lifted flames having tribrachial edge or autoignited lifted flames with mild combustion existed regardless of the Schmidt number of fuel. The adiabatic ignition delay time played a crucial role for the stabilization of autoignited flames. Especially, heat loss during the ignition process should be accounted for, such that the characteristic convection time, defined by the autoignition height divided by jet velocity was correlated well with the square of the adiabatic ignition delay time for the critical autoignition conditions. The liftoff height was also correlated well with the square of the adiabatic ignition delay time.     

Shock tube studies on ignition delay and combustion characteristics of oxygenated fuels under high temperature

A comparative study on ignition delay time and combustion characteristics of four typical oxygenated fuel/air mixtures of dimethyl ether (DME), diethyl ether (DEE), ethanol and E92 ethanol gasoline was conducted through the chemical shock tube. The fuel/air mixtures were measured under the ignition temperature of 1100 to 1800 K, initial pressure of 0.3 MPa and the equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5. The experimental results show that the ignition delay time of these four oxygenated fuels satisfies the Arrhenius relation. The reaction H + O₂ = OH + O has a high sensitivity in four fuel/air mixtures during high-temperature ignition, which makes the ignition delay lengthen with the increase of the equivalence ratios. By comparing the ignition delay of four fuels, ether fuels have excellent ignition performance and ether functional group has better ignition promotion than hydroxyl group. Moreover, the carbon chain length also significantly promotes the ignition. Due to the accumulation of a large number of active intermediates and free radicals during the long ignition delay time before ignition, the four fuels all have intense deflagration and generate the highest combustion peak pressure at the relatively low ignition temperature (1150-1300 K). For DME, DEE and ethanol, due to the high content of oxygen in their molecules, the combustion peak pressure and luminous intensity increased with the equivalence ratio, and the combustion is intense after ignition. E92 ethanol gasoline with low oxygen content has a lower combustion peak pressure and a longer combustion duration than the other three fuels, and its highest combustion peak pressure appears in the stoichiometric ratio. The combustion process of E92 ethanol gasoline is more oxygen-dependent than the other three fuels.     

Hydrogen, propane and gasoline laminar flame development in a spherical vessel

A series of tests are conducted on a constant volume spherical vessel combustion bomb to study the laminar flame development and combustion characteristics of fuel/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures. The experiments are carried out on three types of fuel, namely H₂, C₃H₈ and vapor gasoline for a wide range of operating parameters. The operating parameters studied are equivalence ratio, initial pressure and temperature, and molar oxygen concentration in the supplied air. The significance of the results is discussed, and with the use of published data, a burning rates correlation, laminar burning velocity and flammability limits are presented and compared. A pressure transducer installed in the spherical vessel is used to obtain pressure vs time curves for the combustion process when centrally ignited. From these curves, mass burn rates are calculated using an energy analysis program developed for this calculation. It is proved that the relations between mass burnt ratio and pressure increment ratio can be rearranged into a curve irrespective of the differences in fuels and initial pressures. Laminar burning velocities are obtained at a wide range of operating parameters for the three fuels considered.     

HCCI experiments with gasoline surrogate fuels modeled by a semidetailed chemical kinetic model

Experiments in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine have been conducted with four gasoline surrogate fuel blends. The pure components in the surrogate fuels consisted of n-heptane, isooctane, toluene, ethanol and diisobutylene and fuel sensitivities (RON-MON) in the fuel blends ranged from two to nine. The operating conditions for the engine were pin=0.1 and 0.2 MPa, Tin=80 and 250 °C, ?=0.25 in air and engine speed 1200 rpm. A semidetailed chemical kinetic model (142 species and 672 reactions) for gasoline surrogate fuels, validated against ignition data from experiments conducted in shock tubes for gasoline surrogate fuel blends at 1.0?p?5.0 MPa, 700?T?1200 K and ?=1.0, was successfully used to qualitatively predict the HCCI experiments using a single zone modeling approach. The fuel blends that had higher fuel sensitivity were more resistant to autoignition for low intake temperature and high intake pressure and less resistant to autoignition for high intake temperature and low intake pressure. A sensitivity analysis shows that at high intake temperature the chemistry of the fuels ethanol, toluene and diisobutylene helps to advance ignition. This is consistent with the trend that fuels with the least Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) behavior show the highest octane sensitivity, and become less resistant to autoignition at high intake temperatures. For high intake pressure the sensitivity analysis shows that fuels in the fuel blend with no NTC behavior consume OH radicals and acts as a radical scavenger for the fuels with NTC behavior. This is consistent with the observed trend of an increase in RON and fuel sensitivity. With data from shock tube experiments in the literature and HCCI modeling in this work, a correlation between the reciprocal pressure exponent on the ignition delay to the fuel sensitivity and volume percentage of single-stage ignition fuel in the fuel blend was found. Higher fuel sensitivity and single-stage fuel content generally gives a lower value of the pressure exponent. This helps to explain the results obtained while boosting the intake pressure in the HCCI engine.     

One-dimensional turbulence model simulations of autoignition of hydrogen/carbon monoxide fuel mixtures in a turbulent jet

The autoignition of hydrogen/carbon monoxide in a turbulent jet with preheated co-flow air is studied using the one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. The simulations are performed at atmospheric pressure based on varying the jet Reynolds number and the oxidizer preheat temperature for two compositions corresponding to varying the ratios of H₂ and CO in the fuel stream. Moreover, simulations for homogeneous autoignition are implemented for similar mixture conditions for comparison with the turbulent jet results. The results identify the key effects of differential diffusion and turbulence on the onset and eventual progress of autoignition in the turbulent jets. The differential diffusion of hydrogen fuels results in a reduction of the ignition delay relative to similar conditions of homogeneous autoignition. Turbulence may play an important role in delaying ignition at high-turbulence conditions, a process countered by the differential diffusion of hydrogen relative to carbon monoxide; however, when ignition is established, turbulence enhances the overall rates of combustion of the non-premixed flame downstream of the ignition point.     

Laminar burning characteristics of ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures with laser ignition

Ammonia, as a zero-carbon fuel, is drawing more and more attention. The major challenge of using ammonia as a fuel for the combustion engines lies in its low chemical reactivity, and therefore more fundamental researches on the combustion characteristics of ammonia are required to explore effective ways to burn ammonia in engines. In this study, the laminar burning characteristics of the premixed ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures are investigated. In the experiment, the laser ignition was used to achieve stable ignition of the ammonia/air mixtures with an equivalence ratio range from 0.7 to 1.4. The propagating flame was recorded with the high-speed shadowgraphy. Three different processing methods were introduced to calculate the laminar burning velocity with a consideration of the flame structure characteristics induced by the laser ignition. The effects of initial pressure (0.1 MPa–0.5 MPa), equivalence ratio (0.7–1.4), hydrogen fraction (0–20%) on the laminar burning velocity were investigated under the initial ambient temperature of 360 K. The state-of-the-art kinetic models were used to calculate the laminar burning velocities in the CHEMKIN-pro software. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the laminar burning velocity of the ammonia mixtures increases at first, reaches the peak around ϕ of 1.1, and then decreases with the equivalence ratio increasing from 0.7 to 1.4. The peak laminar burning velocities of the ammonia mixture are lower than 9 cm/s and are remarkably lower than those of hydrocarbon fuels. The laminar burning velocity of the ammonia mixture decreases with the increase of the initial ambient pressure, and it can be drastically speeded up with the addition of hydrogen. While the models except for those by Miller and Bian can give reasonable predictions compared to the experimental results for the equivalence ratio from 0.7 to 1.1 in the ammonia (80%)/hydrogen (20%)/air mixtures, all the kinetic models overpredict the experiments for the richer mixtures, indicating further work necessary in this respect.     

A jet fuel surrogate formulated by real fuel properties

An implicit methodology based on chemical group theory to formulate a jet aviation fuel surrogate by the measurements of several combustion related fuel properties is tested. The empirical formula and derived cetane number of an actual aviation fuel, POSF 4658, have been determined. A three component surrogate fuel for POSF 4658 has been formulated by constraining a mixture of n-decane, iso-octane and toluene to reproduce the hydrogen/carbon ratio and derived cetane number of the target fuel. The validity of the proposed surrogate is evaluated by experimental measurement of select combustion properties of POSF 4658, and the POSF 4658 surrogate.

(1)

A variable pressure flow reactor has been used to chart the chemical reactivity of stoichiometric mixtures of POSF 4658/O₂/N₂ and POSF 4658 surrogate/O₂/N₂ at 12.5 atm and 500-1000 K, fixing the carbon content at 0.3% for both mixtures.

(2)

The high temperature chemical reactivity and chemical kinetic-molecular diffusion coupling of POSF 4658 and POSF 4658 surrogate have been evaluated by measurement of the strained extinction limit of diffusion flames.

(3)

The autoignition behavior of POSF 4658 and POSF 4658 surrogate has been measured with a shock tube at 674-1222 K and with a rapid compression machine at 645-714 K for stoichiometric mixtures of fuel in air at pressures close to 20 atm.

The flow reactor study shows that the character and extent of chemical reactivity of both fuels at low temperature (500-675 K) and high temperature (900 K+) are extremely similar. Slight differences in the transition from the end of the negative temperature coefficient regime to hot ignition are observed. The diffusion flame strained extinction limits of the fuels are observed to be indistinguishable when compared on a molar basis. Ignition delay measurements also show that POSF 4658 exhibits NTC behavior. Moreover, the ignition delays of both fuels are also extremely similar over the temperature range studied in both shock tube and rapid compression machine experiments. A chemical kinetic model is constructed and utilized to interpret the experimental observations and provides a rationale as to why the real fuel and surrogate fuel exhibit such similar reactivity.     

Hydrogen autoignition in a turbulent jet with preheated co-flow air

The autoignition of hydrogen in a turbulent jet with preheated air is studied computationally using the stand-alone one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. The simulations are based on varying the jet Reynolds number and the mixture pressure. Also, computations are carried out for homogeneous autoignition at different mixture fractions and the same two pressure conditions considered for the jet simulations. The simulations show that autoignition is delayed in the jet configuration relative to the earliest autoignition events in homogeneous mixtures. This delay is primarily due to the presence of scalar dissipation associated with the scalar mixing layer in the jet configuration as well as with the presence of turbulent stirring. Turbulence plays additional roles in the subsequent stages of the autoignition process. Pressure effects also are present during the autoignition process and the subsequent high-temperature combustion stages. These effects may be attributed primarily to the sensitivity of the autoignition delay time to the mixture conditions and the role of pressure and air preheating on molecular transport properties. The overall trends are such that turbulence increases autoignition delay times and accordingly the ignition length and pressure further contribute to this delay.     

Combustion and emissions characteristics of toluene/n-heptane and 1-octene/n-octane binary mixtures in a direct injection compression ignition engine

Successfully designing and making effective of use of the next generation of liquid fuels, which will be derived from a range of biomass and fossil sources, requires an understanding of the interactions between structurally similar and dissimilar fuel components when utilised in current engine technology. Interactions between fuel components can influence the release of energy and production of harmful emissions in compression ignition combustion through determination of the autoignition behavior of the fuel. This paper presents experimental studies carried out in a single-cylinder engine supplied with a range of binary mixture fuels to investigate the effect of fuel component interactions on autoignition in direct injection compression ignition. A range of binary mixtures consisting of toluene and n-heptane and also 1-octene and n-octane were tested so as to observe respectively the effect of an aromatic compound and an alkene on n-alkane combustion and emissions. The engine tests were carried out at constant injection timing and they were repeated at constant ignition timing and at constant ignition delay, the latter being achieved through the addition to the various fuels of small quantities of ignition improver (2-ethylhexyl nitrate). Increasing the presence of toluene in the toluene/n-heptane binary mixtures resulted in an increased ignition delay time and generated a distinct two stage ignition process. An increased level of 1-octene in the binary mixtures of 1-octene/n-octane was also found to increase ignition delay, though to a much lesser extent than toluene in the case of the toluene/n-heptane mixtures. Interactions between the fuel components during the ignition delay period appear important in the case of the toluene/n-heptane mixtures but not those of 1-octene/n-octane. At constant injection and constant ignition timings, the combustion phasing and the level of emissions produced by each binary mixture were primarily driven by the ignition delay time. With ignition delay equalised, an effect of adiabatic flame temperature on NOx production was visible.     

Hydrogen peroxide for improving premixed methane–air combustion

In this study, the effects of hydrogen peroxide on laminar, premixed, methane–air flames at atmospheric pressure and temperature were investigated using CHEMKIN III and GRI 3.5 mechanism. The range of fuel/air equivalence ratio (φ) was varied from 0.6 to 1.2, and the amount of hydrogen peroxide was altered from 0% to 20% volumetric fraction of the methane–hydrogen peroxide (air excluded) mixture. The burning velocity was found to increase with increasing hydrogen peroxide addition, with a relatively larger increase for the fuel-richer mixtures (ΔS_u up to 15 cm/s for φ≈1.2). The adiabatic flame temperature rose with hydrogen peroxide addition, and the temperature rise per unit hydrogen peroxide addition was more significantly (ΔT up to 100 K) for the leaner mixtures. For the same mixture stoichiometry, adding hydrogen peroxide also increased CO concentration and NO_x emissions somewhat. Accordingly, the benefits of adding hydrogen peroxide to the combustion conditions considered here can be best realized by burning leaner mixtures.     

Turbulent combustion evolution of stoichiometric H2/CH4/air mixtures within a spherical space

Turbulent combustion evolutions of stoichiometric H₂/CH₄/air mixtures were experimentally studied within a spherical constant-volume combustion vessel. A series of initial turbulent ambience (with the range of turbulence intensity from 0 to 1.309 m/s) and a series of hydrogen volumetric fraction (with the range from 0.3 to 0.9) were taken as the variables to studied the influences of turbulence intensity and the fuel composition on the turbulent combustion evolutions. The evolutions of explosion overpressure were studied upon the variations of maximal pressure, the influences of turbulence intensity mainly located at heat loss while the influences of fuel composition mainly located at adiabatic explosion. Subsequently, the evolutions of burnt mass were discussed, the competition between pressure rising and temperature rising induced by the heat release during combustion was considered as major influence mechanism. Then, the nexus between burning velocity and the related burnt mass rate were discussed, the variations regulations of maximal burning velocity brought by turbulence intensity and hydrogen volumetric fraction were analysed. Finally, the nexus between maximum burning velocity and heat loss was discussed.     

Application of a novel charge preparation approach to testing the autoignition characteristics of JP-8 and camelina hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel in a rapid compression machine

A variety of new, alternative jet fuels are being considered as replacements for conventional petroleum-derived jet fuels, and the autoignition chemistry of these fuels are of prime interest. However, traditional batch-based premixture preparation approaches used in chemical kinetics studies are burdened by the low volatility of these fuels. In this work, a new charge preparation approach is described and characterized in which a fuel and air premixture is created directly in the test chamber of a rapid compression machine. The approach relies on a fuel injector to load a small quantity of fuel into the test chamber with high resolution. Preparation of the test charge directly in the device rather than in a mixing vessel reduces the mixture pressure, and hence the fuel partial pressure and mixture temperature requirements to avoid thermal decomposition of the fuel. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is used to confirm that an accurately known mass of JP-8 jet fuel is injected into the rapid compression machine, and that all components of the fuel are evaporated and homogeneously mixed within 2 min of the fuel injection, for temperatures from 105 °C to 145 °C. Ignition delays for JP-8 in air are measured at low temperatures (670–750 K) and low pressures (7 and 10 bar) and the measurements are compared with literature data. The autoignition characteristics of the bio-based camelina hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel are also measured and contrasted with those of JP-8. Under similar compressed conditions, the camelina hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel ignition properties are distinct from JP-8, which provides motivation for pursuing new test strategies to elicit the autoignition chemistry of alternative jet fuels and other non-volatile fuels.     

合成气自点火延迟特性分析

合成气的自点火延迟时间是预混器设计的关键参数之一,合成气富含大量的H2,因此自点火延迟时间要比常规燃料短很多,预混段过长将会导致自点火的危险。目前燃气轮机条件下的合成气自点火延迟的实验数据仍然很少,且尚未出现一种可以准确预测低温高压下合成气自点火延迟时间的化学反应机理。主要分析了温度、压力、当量比、氧含量、氢含量五大因素对自点火延迟时间的影响,并且修正了GRI3．0、Song等机理来模拟低温反应中的扰动因素影响,得到了较好的结果,同时还在Walton经验公式的基础上做了一定修改,使之与目前存在的数据更为接近。     

Controlled autoignition of hydrogen in a direct-injection optical engine

Research into novel internal combustion engines requires consideration of the diversity in future fuels in an attempt to reduce drastically CO₂ emissions from vehicles and promote energy sustainability. Hydrogen has been proposed as a possible fuel for future internal combustion engines and can be produced from renewable sources. Hydrogen’s wide flammability range allows higher engine efficiency than conventional fuels with both reduced toxic emissions and no CO₂ gases. Most previous work on hydrogen engines has focused on spark-ignition operation. The current paper presents results from an optical study of controlled autoignition (or homogeneous charge compression ignition) of hydrogen in an engine of latest spark-ignition pentroof combustion chamber geometry with direct injection of hydrogen (100 bar). This was achieved by a combination of inlet air preheating in the range 200–400 °C and residual gas recirculated internally by negative valve overlap. Hydrogen fuelling was set to various values of equivalence ratio, typically in the range ? = 0.40–0.63. Crank-angle resolved flame chemiluminescence images were acquired for a series of consecutive cycles at 1000 RPM in order to calculate in-cylinder rates of flame expansion and motion. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) of OH was also applied to record more detailed features of the autoignition pattern. Single and double (i.e. ‘split’ per cycle) hydrogen injection strategies were employed in order to identify the effect of mixture preparation on autoignition’s timing and spatial development. An attempt was also made to review relevant in-cylinder phenomena from the limited literature on hydrogen-fuelled spark-ignition optical engines and make comparisons were appropriate.     

Parametric study of a laser ignited hydrogen–air mixture in a constant volume combustion chamber

Experiments were carried out in a constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) to investigate flame kernel development and flame speed of hydrogen–air mixtures having different fuel–air ratios. A Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with 1064 nm wavelength and pulse duration of 6–9 ns was used for ignition by generating laser induced plasma inside the CVCC. In this study, laser induced ignition of hydrogen–air mixtures was investigated using different initial chamber filling pressures (P = 2.5 bar–10 bar) at different initial temperatures (373 K–523 K). A variable optical setup with converging lenses having different focal lengths (f = 100–250 mm) were used to position the plasma at various locations inside the CVCC. A high speed camera recorded the flame kernel development and a piezoelectric pressure transducer recorded the pressure–time history for all the experiments. The main objective of this study was to determine the dependence of combustion properties of laser ignited hydrogen–air mixtures on lasers, optical configurations and initial conditions prevailing in the CVCC.     

Effects of hydrogen on combustion characteristics of methane in air

The explosion process of multi-component gas mixture is extremely complex and may cause serious disaster effects. The safety issue concerning explosion of multi-component gas mixture is urgent to be investigated on account of its wide range of applications. In current work, series of experiments were performed in a 20 L spherical explosion vessel at initial conditions of 1 atm and 293 K, involving methane–hydrogen/air mixtures. The proportion of hydrogen in fuels varied from 0% to 100%. It was observed that peak temperature is always behind the peak pressure in arrival time whatever the fuel equivalence is. Experimental values of peak overpressure are lower than adiabatic ones due to heat loss. It was also founded that the hydrogen addition can raise explosion pressure and temperature in experiment but slightly decrease that in adiabatic condition, and both the increase in experiment and the decrease in adiabatic show a linear correlation versus the proportion of hydrogen. Hence the deviation between the experimental results and the adiabatic results decreases as the hydrogen proportion rises. Moreover, the positive effect of hydrogen addition on (dp/dt)_max is very slight at low hydrogen proportion, while the effect becomes much more pronounced at higher hydrogen contents, showing an exponential growth. For each fuel composition throughout all experiments, the peak overpressure, peak temperature and (dp/dt)_max concerning fuel equivalence ratios of 0.6, 1 and 1.5 follow a same rule: Ф = 1 is the highest, followed by Ф = 1.5 and Ф = 0.6. Finally, the MIEs of gaseous methane–hydrogen/air mixtures at a fuel equivalence ratio of 1.5 were measured as a function of hydrogen proportion. It shows a sharp decrease as the fraction of hydrogen in fuel rises, from 118 mJ for methane–air to 0.12 mJ for hydrogen–air. It is also observed that the MIE of multi-component gas mixtures can be approximately figured as the linear weighted sum of the MIE of each component; the weighting factor is respectively the volume fraction of each component. This can be considered as a universal method to obtain the MIE for a specific multi-component gas.     

Some considerations of the lean flammability limits of mixtures involving hydrogen

Consistent data regarding the flammability limits of homogeneous mixtures of hydrogen gas in air at atmospheric pressure are presented for various temperatures extending down to ?130 °C. The retardation of the combustion of lean homogeneous mixtures of hydrogen and air due to the homogeneous mixing of inerts such as CO₂, N₂ and He is also considered. Moreover, the enhancement of the flammability limits of fuel mixtures involving CO, CH₄, C₃H₈ and C₂H₄ in air due to the presence of some hydrogen is also presented. Guidelines are then suggested for predicting the role of the presence of hydrogen in the fuel-air mixtures over a wide range of concentrations and temperatures.