Characterization of the effects of pressure and hydrogen concentration on laminar burning velocities of methane-hydrogen-air mixtures

The aim of the present work was to characterize both the effects of pressure and of hydrogen addition on methane/air premixed laminar flames. The experimental setup consists of a spherical combustion chamber coupled to a classical shadowgraphy system. Flame pictures are recorded by a high speed camera. Global equivalence ratios were varied from 0.7 to 1.2 for the initial pressure range from 0.1 to 0.5 MPa. The mole fraction of hydrogen in the methane + hydrogen mixture was varied from 0 to 0.2. Experimental results were compared to calculations using a detailed chemical kinetic scheme (GRIMECH 3.0). First, the results for atmospheric laminar CH4/air flames were compared to the literature. Very good agreements were obtained both for laminar burning velocities and for burned gas Markstein length. Then, increasing the hydrogen content in the mixture was found to be responsible for an increase in the laminar burning velocity and for a reduction of the flame dependence on stretch. Transport effects, through the reduction of the fuel Lewis number, play a role in reducing the sensitivity of the fundamental flame velocity to the stretch. Finally, when the pressure was increased, the laminar burning velocity decreased for all mixtures. The pressure domain was limited to 0.5 MPa due to the onset of instabilities at pressures above this value. (c) 2004 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.