Numerical Investigations on Methane–Air Nanosecond Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma-Assisted Combustion

Abstract

Plasma-assisted combustion is a promising approach to achieve fast ignition and highly efficient combustion. In this work, methane−air nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma-assisted combustion is numerically investigated by combining a homemade plasma model with the combustion model of software CHEMKIN-PRO. Effects of varying applied voltage amplitudes on the characteristic parameters of the plasma-assisted planar shear flow combustion as well as the reaction pathway maps of not only the nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma but also the combustions without and with plasma assistance are systematically illustrated and analyzed. The simulation results indicate that under the combined action of increasing electric field intensity and increasing charged particle densities, the peak value of the discharge current density increases, and the peak time of the discharge current density is brought forward with the increase of the applied voltage amplitude. The temperature reaches its peak value earlier in the methane−air combustion with plasma assistance than without plasma assistance. The maximum temperature reduces to around 1900 K when the applied voltage amplitude is higher than 11 kV. There are emerging pathways to generate hydrocarbons C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 2 in the plasma-assisted combustion, the reactions of CH 4 on CH and C 2 H on H 2 , respectively. The reactions involving active species such as H play a significant role in the plasma-assisted combustion, which causes an obvious decrease in the densities of these active species with plasma assistance.

Investigation on the Regulation of the Combustion Characteristics of a Propane/Air Mixture by Repetitive nSDBD Pretreatment

“…In order to overcome the problems in the lean combustion process, plasma-assisted combustion technology has been widely studied. − With the progress of plasma-assisted ignition and combustion, plasma-assisted combustion technology is expected to become a more effective combustion control method . Plasma assists combustion mainly through three pathways: (1) thermal effect; (2) activation effect; (3) transport effect.…”

Multi-point ignition of air/fuel mixture by the initiated subcritical streamer discharge

“…The corona discharge generates streamers coming from a star-shaped electrode, generally consisting of four or five tips.A statistical analysis of the streamer behavior was performed, by separately analyzing the streamers generated by each tip of the star-shaped electrode. Effects of varying applied voltage amplitudes on the characteristic parameters of the plasmaassisted planar shear flow combustion are analyzed in [30].…”

Methane–Air Plasma-Assisted Ignition Excited by Nanosecond Repetitively Pulsed Discharge: Numerical Modeling and Effect of Inert Gas

“…Discharge plasma excitation approaches, such as gliding arc, 13 alternating current, 14 direct current, 15 radiofrequency, 16 microwave, 17 and dielectric barrier discharge, 18 have been implemented to achieve PAI and PAC. In comparison with these methods, nanosecond repetitively pulsed (NRP) discharge could provide higher power density and high reduced electric field (E/N) to accelerate the energetic electron-generating uniform plasma as well as various chemical reactive components for effective fuel oxidation and significant ignition enhancement.…”

“…20 Because the experimental implementation of PAI and PAC in special environments still has certain limitations, numerical simulation has become a preferred approach to deeply explore the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and the chemical dynamics of PAI and PAC. Models such as one-dimensional fluid models, 18 one-dimensional particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision models, 21 and global models 22 are the extensively used methods to investigate PAI and PAC. Casey et al have explored the effect of the nanosecond pulsed applied voltage on ignition utilizing a twofluid solver, discovering that the recombination of the fuel and the oxidant fragments increases the content of OH in the front of the outwardly propagating flame and accelerates the consumption of fuel.…”