Activation Energy of Hydrogen–Methane Mixtures

Abstract

In this work, the overall activation energy of the combustion of lean hydrogen–methane–air mixtures (equivalence ratio φ = 0.7−1.0 and hydrogen fraction in methane α=0, 2, 4) is experimentally determined using thin-filament pyrometry of flames stabilised on a flat porous burner under normal conditions (p=1 bar, T = 20 °C). The experimental data are compared with numerical calculations within the detailed reaction mechanism GRI3.0 and both approaches confirm the linear correlation between mass flow rate and inverse flame temperature predicted in the theory. An analysis of the numerical and experimental data shows that, in the limit of lean hydrogen–methane–air mixtures, the activation energy approaches a constant value, which is not sensitive to the addition of hydrogen to methane. The mass flow rate for a freely propagating flame and, thus, the laminar burning velocity, are measured for mixtures with different hydrogen contents. This mass flow rate, scaled over the characteristic temperature dependence of the laminar burning velocity for a one-step reaction mechanism, is found and it can also be used in order to estimate the parameters of the overall reaction mechanisms. Such reaction mechanisms will find implementation in the numerical simulation of practical combustion devices with complex flows and geometries.