Laminar flame speeds of primary reference fuels and reformer gas mixtures

The laminar flame speeds of neat primary reference fuels (PRFs), n-heptane and iso-octane, PRF blends, reformer gas, and reformer gas/iso-octane/air mixtures are measured over a range of equivalence ratios at atmospheric pressure, using counterflow configuration and digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). PRF blends with various octane numbers are studied. The synthetic reformer gas mixture employed herein has a composition that would be produced from the partial oxidation of rich iso-octane/air mixture into CO and H-2, namely, 28% H-2, 25% CO, and 47% N-2. Computationally, the experimentally determined laminar flame speeds are simulated using the detailed kinetic models available in the literature. Both experimental and computational results demonstrate that the flame speeds of hydrocarbon/air mixtures increase with addition of a small amount of reformer gas, and the flame speeds of reformer gas/air mixtures are dramatically reduced with addition of a small amount of hydrocarbon fuel. Furthermore, the number density effect of seeding particles on flame speed measurement is assessed, and the experimental uncertainties associated with the present DPIV setup as well as the linear extrapolation method employed herein are discussed. (C) 2004 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.