Visualization of the homogeneous charge compression ignition/controlled autoignition combustion process using two-dimensional planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging of formaldehyde

The paper reports an investigation into the HCCI/CAI combustion process using the two-dimensional PLIF technique. The PLIF of formaldehyde formed during the low-temperature reactions of HCCI/CAI combustion was exciting by a tunable dye laser at 355nm wavelength and detected by a gated ICCD camera. Times and locations of the two-stage autoignition of HCCI/CAI combustion were observed in a single cylinder optical engine for several fuel blends mixed with n-heptane and iso-octane. The results show, when pure n-heptane was used, the initial formation of formaldehyde and its subsequent burning were closely related to the start of the low temperature heat release stage and the start of the main heat release stage of HCCI combustion respectively. Meanwhile, it was found that the formation of formaldehyde was more affected by the charge temperature than by the fuel concentration. But its subsequent burning or the start of main heat release combustion toke place at those areas where both the fuel concentration and the charge temperature were sufficient high. As a result, it was found that the presence of stratified residual gases affected both the spatial location and the temporal site of autoignition in a HCCI/CAI combustion engine. All studied fuels were found having similar formaldehyde formation timings with n-heptane. This means that the presence of iso-octane did not affect the start of low temperature reactions apparently. However, the heat release during low temperature reaction was significantly reduced with the presence of iso-octane in the studied fuels. In addition, the presence of iso-octane retarded the start of the main combustion stage

Combustion regimes in sequential combustors: Flame propagation and autoignition at elevated temperature and pressure

This numerical study investigates the combustion modes in the second stage of a sequential combustor at atmospheric and high pressure. The sequential burner (SB) features a mixing section with fuel injection into a hot vitiated crossflow. Depending on the dominant combustion mode, a recirculation zone assists flame anchoring in the combustion chamber. The flame is located sufficiently downstream of the injector resulting in partially premixed conditions. First, combustion regime maps are obtained from 0-D and 1-D simulations showing the co-existence of three combustion modes: autoignition, flame propagation and flame propagation assisted by autoignition. These regime maps can be used to understand the combustion modes at play in turbulent sequential combustors, as shown with 3-D large eddy simulations (LES) with semi-detailed chemistry. In addition to the simulation of steady-state combustion at three different operating conditions, transient simulations are performed: (i) ignition of the combustor with autoignition as the dominant mode, (ii) ignition that is initiated by autoignition and that is followed by a transition to a propagation stabilized flame, and (iii) a transient change of the inlet temperature (decrease by 150 K) resulting into a change of the combustion regime. These results show the importance of the recirculation zone for the ignition and the anchoring of a propagating type flame. On the contrary, the autoignition flame stabilizes due to continuous self-ignition of the mixture and the recirculation zone does not play an important role for the flame anchoring

Experimental and modeling study of the autoignition of 1-hexene/iso-octane mixtures at low temperatures

Autoignition delay times have been measured in a rapid compression machine at Lille at temperatures after compression from 630 to 840 K, pressures from 8 to 14 bar, \Phi = 1 and for a iso octane/1 hexene mixture containing 82% iso-octane and 18% 1 hexene. Results have shown that this mixture is strongly more reactive than pure iso-octane, but less reactive than pure 1 hexene. It exhibits a classical low temperature behaviour, with the appearance of cool flame and a negative temperature coefficient region. The composition of the reactive mixture obtained after the cool flame has also been determined. A detailed kinetic model has been obtained by using the system EXGAS, developed in Nancy for the automatic generation of kinetic mechanisms, and an acceptable agreement with the experimental results has been obtained both for autoignition delay times and for the distribution of products. A flow rate analysis reveals that the crossed reactions between species coming from both reactants (like H-abstractions or combinations) are negligible in the main flow consumption of the studied hydrocarbons. The ways of formation of the main primary products observed and the most sensitive rate constants have been identified

Stratospheric cruise emission reduction program

A recently implemented NASA effort specifically aimed at reducing cruise oxides of nitrogen from high-altitude aircraft is discussed. The desired emission levels and the combustor technology required to achieve them are discussed. A brief overview of the SCERP operating plan is given. Lean premixed-prevaporized combustion and some of the potential difficulties that are associated with applying this technique to gas turbine combustors are examined. Base technology was developed in several key areas. These fundamental studies are viewed as a requirement for successful implementation of the lean premixed combustion technique

A Tentative Modeling Study of the Effect of Wall Reactions on Oxidation Phenomena

This paper gives details of a tentative modeling study that investigates the inhibiting effect of internal reactor walls treated with acid..

Hydrogen SI and HCCI Combustion in a Direct-Injection Optical Engine

Hydrogen has been largely proposed as a possible alternative fuel for internal combustion engines. Its wide flammability range allows higher engine efficiency with leaner operation than conventional fuels, for both reduced toxic emissions and no CO2 gases. Independently, Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) also allows higher thermal efficiency and lower fuel consumption with reduced NOX emissions when compared to Spark-Ignition (SI) engine operation. For HCCI combustion, a mixture of air and fuel is supplied to the cylinder and autoignition occurs from compression; engine is operated throttle-less and load is controlled by the quality of the mixture, avoiding the large fluid-dynamic losses in the intake manifold of SI engines. HCCI can be induced and controlled by varying the mixture temperature, either by Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) or intake air pre-heating. A combination of HCCI combustion with hydrogen fuelling has great potential for virtually zero CO2 and NOX emissions. Nevertheless, combustion on such a fast burning fuel with wide flammability limits and high octane number implies many disadvantages, such as control of backfiring and speed of autoignition and there is almost no literature on the subject, particularly in optical engines. Experiments were conducted in a single-cylinder research engine equipped with both Port Fuel Injection (PFI) and Direct Injection (DI) systems running at 1000 RPM. Optical access to in-cylinder phenomena was enabled through an extended piston and optical crown. Combustion images were acquired by a high-speed camera at 1°or 2°crank angle resolution for a series of engine cycles. Spark-ignition tests were initially carried out to benchmark the operation of the engine with hydrogen against gasoline. DI of hydrogen after intake valve closure was found to be preferable in order to overcome problems related to backfiring and air displacement from hydrogens low density. HCCI combustion of hydrogen was initially enabled by means of a pilot port injection of n-heptane preceding the main direct injection of hydrogen, along with intake air preheating. Sole hydrogen fuelling HCCI was finally achieved and made sustainable, even at the low compression ratio of the optical engine by means of closed-valve DI, in synergy with air-pre-heating and negative valve overlap to promote internal EGR. Various operating conditions were analysed, such as fuelling in the range of air excess ratio 1.2-3.0 and intake air temperatures of 200-400°C. Finally, both single and double injections per cycle were compared to identify their effects on combustion development. Copyright © 2009 SAE International

The autoignition of cyclopentane and cyclohexane in a shock tube

Ignition delay times of cyclohexane-oxygen-argon and cyclopentane-oxygen-argon mixtures have been measured in a shock tube, the onset of ignition being detected by OH radical emission. Mixtures contained 0.5 or 1 % of hydrocarbon for equivalence ratios ranging from 0.5 to 2. Reflected shock waves allowed temperatures from 1230 to 1800 K and pressures from 7.3 to 9.5 atm to be obtained. These measurements have shown that cyclopentane is much less reactive than cyclohexane, as for a given temperature the observed autoignition delay times were about ten times higher for the C5 compound compared to the C6. Detailed mechanisms for the combustion of cyclohexane and cyclopentane have been proposed to reproduce these results. The elementary steps included in the kinetic models of the oxidation of cyclanes are close to those proposed to describe the oxidation of acyclic alkanes and alkenes. Consequently, it has been possible to obtain these models by using an improved version of software EXGAS, a computer package developed to perform the automatic generation of detailed kinetic models for the gas-phase oxidation and combustion of linear and branched alkanes and alkenes. Nevertheless, the modelling of the oxidation of cyclanes requires to consider new types of generic reactions, and especially to define new correlations for the estimation of the rate constants. Ab initio calculations have been used to better know some of the rate constants used in the case of cyclopentane. The main reaction pathways have been derived from flow rate and sensitivity analyses

Autoignition test cell Patent

Test chamber for determining decomposition and autoignition of materials used in spacecraft under controlled environmental condition

Mechanism reduction for multicomponent surrogates: a case study using toluene reference fuels

Strategies and recommendations for performing skeletal reductions of multicomponent surrogate fuels are presented, through the generation and validation of skeletal mechanisms for a three-component toluene reference fuel. Using the directed relation graph with error propagation and sensitivity analysis method followed by a further unimportant reaction elimination stage, skeletal mechanisms valid over comprehensive and high-temperature ranges of conditions were developed at varying levels of detail. These skeletal mechanisms were generated based on autoignition simulations, and validation using ignition delay predictions showed good agreement with the detailed mechanism in the target range of conditions. When validated using phenomena other than autoignition, such as perfectly stirred reactor and laminar flame propagation, tight error control or more restrictions on the reduction during the sensitivity analysis stage were needed to ensure good agreement. In addition, tight error limits were needed for close prediction of ignition delay when varying the mixture composition away from that used for the reduction. In homogeneous compression-ignition engine simulations, the skeletal mechanisms closely matched the point of ignition and accurately predicted species profiles for lean to stoichiometric conditions. Furthermore, the efficacy of generating a multicomponent skeletal mechanism was compared to combining skeletal mechanisms produced separately for neat fuel components; using the same error limits, the latter resulted in a larger skeletal mechanism size that also lacked important cross reactions between fuel components. Based on the present results, general guidelines for reducing detailed mechanisms for multicomponent fuels are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Combustion and Flam