Combustion Diagnostics Laboratory

An experimental and computational investigation into the flame propagation and extinction characteristics of neat hydrocarbon components relevant to real transportation fuels is conducted. Pure hydrocarbon fuels corresponding to linear alkane, branched alkane, aromatic, and cyclic alkane are studied. The atmospheric pressure laminar flame speeds for the neat fuels, over a range of equivalence ratios, are measured and compared at varying preheat temperatures. A comparison of the present experimental results to the limited reported experimental data and the computed values, obtained using kinetic mechanisms available in the literature, is also carried out. Additionally, flame extinction studies, both computational and experimental, are presented and discussed. An attempt is further made to assess the performance of some recently developed reaction mechanisms for n-alkane oxidation. Further, the sensitivity of the computed flame response to the kinetic rate constants as well as the transport parameters is evaluated. The present data set is expected to provide insight into the relative response of various hydrocarbon fuel classes for high-temperature flame conditions.