1-Butanol ignition delay times at low temperatures: An application of the constrained-reaction-volume strategy

Ignition delay times behind reflected shock waves are strongly sensitive to variations in temperature and pressure, yet most current models of reaction kinetics do not properly account for the variations that are often present in shock tube experiments. Particularly at low reaction temperatures with relatively long ignition delay times, substantial increases in pressure and temperature can occur behind the reflected shock even before the main ignition event, and these changes in thermodynamic conditions of the ignition process have proved difficult to interpret and model. To obviate such pressure increases, we applied a new driven-gas loading method that constrains the volume of reactive gases, thereby producing near-constant-pressure test conditions for reflected shock measurements. Using both conventional operation and this new constrained-reaction-volume (CRV) method, we have collected ignition delay times for 1-butanol/O₂/N₂ mixtures over temperatures between 716 and 1121 K and nominal pressures of 20 and 40 atm for equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The equivalence ratio dependence of 1-butanol ignition delay time was found to be negative when the oxygen concentration was fixed, but positive when the fuel concentration was held constant. Ignition delay times with strong pre-ignition pressure increases in conventional-filling experiments were found to be significantly shorter than those where these pressure increases were mitigated using the CRV strategy. The near-constant-pressure ignition delay times provide a new database for low-temperature 1-butanol mechanism development independent of non-idealities caused by either shock attenuation or pre-ignition perturbations. Comparisons of these near-constant-pressure measurements with predictions using several reaction mechanisms available in the literature were performed. To our knowledge this work is first of its kind that systematically provides accurate near-constant-enthalpy and -pressure target data for chemical kinetic modeling of undiluted fuel/air mixtures at engine relevant conditions.