Shock tube studies on ignition delay and combustion characteristics of oxygenated fuels under high temperature

A comparative study on ignition delay time and combustion characteristics of four typical oxygenated fuel/air mixtures of dimethyl ether (DME), diethyl ether (DEE), ethanol and E92 ethanol gasoline was conducted through the chemical shock tube. The fuel/air mixtures were measured under the ignition temperature of 1100 to 1800 K, initial pressure of 0.3 MPa and the equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5. The experimental results show that the ignition delay time of these four oxygenated fuels satisfies the Arrhenius relation. The reaction H + O₂ = OH + O has a high sensitivity in four fuel/air mixtures during high-temperature ignition, which makes the ignition delay lengthen with the increase of the equivalence ratios. By comparing the ignition delay of four fuels, ether fuels have excellent ignition performance and ether functional group has better ignition promotion than hydroxyl group. Moreover, the carbon chain length also significantly promotes the ignition. Due to the accumulation of a large number of active intermediates and free radicals during the long ignition delay time before ignition, the four fuels all have intense deflagration and generate the highest combustion peak pressure at the relatively low ignition temperature (1150-1300 K). For DME, DEE and ethanol, due to the high content of oxygen in their molecules, the combustion peak pressure and luminous intensity increased with the equivalence ratio, and the combustion is intense after ignition. E92 ethanol gasoline with low oxygen content has a lower combustion peak pressure and a longer combustion duration than the other three fuels, and its highest combustion peak pressure appears in the stoichiometric ratio. The combustion process of E92 ethanol gasoline is more oxygen-dependent than the other three fuels.