Experimental and Numerical Study of NH3/CH4 Counterflow Premixed and Non-premixed Flames for Various NH3 Mixing Ratios

Ammonia is a promising sustainable fuel, however, its low reactivity creates challenges in industrial applications. In this study, ammonia/methane mixtures were considered for premixed and non-premixed counterflow flames. The extinction stretch rate was measured over a wide range of ammonia/methane mixing ratios and compared to 1D numerical results from four different mechanisms. Additionally, for counterflow premixed twin flames, quantitative analysis based on the comparison of experimental and numerical FWHM of OH and NO profiles was performed. Results showed that in premixed flames, all the mechanisms investigated were inadequate for predicting the extinction stretch rate, specifically for lean flames. In non-premixed flames, Okafor's mechanism was accurately predicting the extinction stretch rate. For the FWHM analysis, the numerical mechanisms overpredicted both OH and NO apparition in the flame, except for Tian's mechanism which underpredicted OH apparition. GRI Mech 3.0 performed well for small quantities of ammonia but failed to reproduce the pure ammonia case. Okafor's and UCSD mechanisms gave better predictions of experimental trends, though overestimated both OH and NO apparition. In the FWHM analysis of both OH and NO, the lower R-2 values in the lean region suggest that the lean region should be the focus for mechanism improvement.

Automated summary

The study investigated the application of ammonia/methane mixtures in flames and the prediction of extinction stretch rate by different numerical mechanisms. Experimental results showed that all mechanisms struggled to accurately predict the extinction rate in premixed flames, while Okafor’s mechanism performed better in non-premixed flames.