Strategies for mechanism reduction for large hydrocarbons: n-heptane

Tianfeng F. Lu, Chung K. Law

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

248 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 55-species reduced mechanism for n-heptane oxidation was derived from a 188-species skeletal mechanism, which was previously obtained from a detailed mechanism consisting of 561 species using a directed relation graph (DRG). This reduced mechanism was derived by first obtaining a skeletal mechanism with 78 species using DRG-aided sensitivity analysis. The unimportant reactions were eliminated by using the importance index defined in computational singular perturbation (CSP), with a newly posited restriction to treat each reversible reaction as a single reaction. An isomer lumping approach, also developed in the present study, then groups the isomers with similar thermal and diffusion properties so that the number of species transport equations is reduced. It was found that the intragroup mass fractions of the isomers can be approximated as constants in the present reduced mechanism, leading to a 68-species mechanism with 283 elementary reactions. Finally, 13 global quasi-steady-state species were identified using a CSP-based time-scale analysis, resulting in the 55-species reduced mechanism, with 283 elementary reactions lumped into 51 semiglobal steps. Validation of the reduced mechanism shows good agreement with the detailed mechanism for both ignition and extinction phenomena. The inadequacy of the detailed mechanism in predicting the experimental laminar flame speed is also demonstrated.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)153-163
Number of pages11
JournalCombustion and Flame
Volume154
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

Keywords

  • Computational singular perturbation
  • Diffusive species bundling
  • Directed relation graph
  • Isomer lumping
  • Mechanism reduction
  • Quasi-steady-state approximation
  • n-Heptane

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Strategies for mechanism reduction for large hydrocarbons: n-heptane'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this