Elsevier

Combustion and Flame

Volume 212, February 2020, Pages 107-122
Combustion and Flame

An experimental and modeling study on the reactivity of extremely fuel-rich methane/dimethyl ether mixtures

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2019.09.036Get rights and content
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open access

Abstract

Chemical reactions in stoichiometric to fuel-rich methane/dimethyl ether/air mixtures (fuel air equivalence ratio ϕ = 1–20) were investigated by experiment and simulation with the focus on the conversion of methane to chemically more valuable species through partial oxidation. Experimental data from different facilities were measured and collected to provide a large database for developing and validating a reaction mechanism for extended equivalence ratio ranges. Rapid Compression Machine ignition delay times and species profiles were collected in the temperature range between 660 and 1052 K at 10 bar and equivalence ratios of ϕ = 1–15. Ignition delay times and product compositions were measured in a shock tube at temperatures of 630–1500 K, pressures of 20–30 bar and equivalence ratios of ϕ = 2 and 10. Additionally, species concentration profiles were measured in a flow reactor at temperatures between 473 and 973 K, a pressure of 6 bar and equivalence ratios of ϕ = 2, 10, and 20. The extended equivalence ratio range towards extremely fuel-rich mixtures as well as the reaction-enhancing effect of dimethyl ether were studied because of their usefulness for the conversion of methane into chemically valuable species through partial oxidation at these conditions. Since existing reaction models focus only on equivalence ratios in the range of ϕ = 0.3–2.5, an extended chemical kinetics mechanism was developed that also covers extremely fuel-rich conditions of methane/dimethyl ether mixtures. The measured ignition delay times and species concentration profiles were compared with the predictions of the new mechanism, which is shown to predict well the ignition delay time and species concentration evolution measurements presented in this work. Sensitivity and reaction pathway analyses were used to identify the key reactions governing the ignition and oxidation kinetics at extremely fuel-rich conditions.

Keywords

Fuel-rich reactions
Rapid compression machine
Shock tube
Flow reactor
Ignition delay time
Species concentration profiles

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