Study on the laminar combustion characteristics and kinetic of IC8H18/NH3 premixed flames

To promote the transition to a carbon neutral society, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive research on the utilization of ammonia contained in gasoline engine. In the present study, the laminar burning velocity (S_L), Markstein length (L_b) and flame instability of isooctane/ammonia (IC8H18/NH3)-air mixtures were analyzed at the initial temperatures (T) of 400 K and 470 K, initial pressure (P) of 1–4 atm, ammonia mole fraction (X_NH3) of 0%-70% and an equivalence ratio (ϕ) ranging from 0.8 to 1.3. Also, the kinetic mechanism of IC8H18/NH3 as proposed by Cai et al. [Combust. Flame, 162, 2015] was further optimized and compared with the mechanism of CRECK and Cai. The results show that the difference between the Cai and present mechanisms is largely attributable to the variation in sensitivity of NH3 oxidation-related reaction to S_L. In addition, it is widely known that S_L is dependent on the initial temperature and pressure. In order to improve the applicability of IC8H18/NH3 fuel mixtures, their temperature (α) and pressure (β) coefficients were determined given varying ϕ and X_NH3. Meanwhile, a mathematical correlation for S_L was also conducted. The analysis of L_b was also conducted to obtain the results showing that L_b decreases with ϕ increasing, except for NH3-air flame. Moreover, as X_NH3 increases, L_b varies between lean and rich flames. For lean-flames, NH3 addition leads to a significant decrease in L_b, while for rich-flames, NH3 addition causes a marginal increase in L_b. All these are attributed to the variation in Zel'dovich number (Ze), effective Lewis number (Le_eff) and flame thickness (δ). Furthermore, the instability of flame suggests that the addition of ammonia enhances the stability of the flame due to the reduced molecular diffusion effect. Moreover, an increase in X_NH3 contributes only to a slight decrease of critical Peclect number (Pe_cr), and a sharp rise in the critical flame radius (R_cr) results from the increase of flame thickness (δ).