Kinetic modeling study on the combustion characterization of synthetic C3 and C4 alcohols for lean premixed prevaporized combustion

Abstract

To reach sustainable aviation, one approach is to use electro-fuels (e-fuels) within the gas turbine engines. E-fuels are CO2-neutral synthetic fuels which are produced employing electrical energy generated from renewable resources, where the carbon is taken out of the atmosphere or from biomass. Our approach is, to find e-fuels, which can be utilized in the lean premixed prevapor-ized (LPP) combustion, where most of the non-CO2 emissions are prevented. One of the suitable e- fuel classes is alcohols with a low number of carbons. In this work, the autoignition properties of propanol isomers and butanol isomers as e-fuels were investigated in a high-pressure shock tube (HPST) at temperatures from 1200 to 1500 K, the pressure of 10 bar, and lean fuel-air conditions. Additional investigations on the low-temperature oxidation and flame speed of C3 and C4 alcohols from the literature were employed to develop a comprehensive mechanism for the prediction of ignition delay time (IDT) and laminar burning velocity (LBV) of the above-mentioned fuels. A numerical model based on newly developed chemical kinetics was applied to further study the IDT and LBV of fuels in comparison to the Jet-A surrogate at the engine-related conditions along with the emissions prediction of the model at lean fuel-air conditions. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.