Knock Characteristics of Gas Fuels in the Light of the Kinetics of Hydrogen and Methane Oxidation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18321/ectj1653Keywords:
Gas fuels, Hydrogen, Methane, Ignition delay time, Knock resistanceAbstract
Understanding and operational assessment of the knock behavior of environmentally friendly gas engine fuels is very important for expanding their practical application. Recent studies of the autoignition of hydrogen and methane at temperatures typical for this process in internal combustion engines (800<T<1000 K) have shown that near 900 K, fundamental changes occur in the mechanisms of their oxidation associated with a change in the role of peroxide compounds in them. This leads to very abrupt changes in the autoignition dependence of mixtures containing them on temperature, pressure, and composition. In particular, near this temperature, depending on the composition of methane-hydrogen mixtures, such an important characteristic of their ignition as the activation energy of the ignition delay time can vary almost 4 times. Based on the analysis of the published data, this paper analyzes the nature of these changes and the related problem of assessing the knock resistance of gas fuels. It has been shown that the Methane Number, a common indicator of the knock resistance of gas fuels, is principally inapplicable for hydrocarbon gas fuels. The reason for this is the fundamental difference between the effect on ignition and combustion of methane, the main component of hydrocarbon gas fuels, admixtures of its heavier homologues, and hydrogen. An important reason is also some peculiarities of low-temperature hydrogen ignition. Although a theoretical assessment of the knock resistance of gas fuels containing methane and hydrogen is possible, it is of little use in practice. Thus, the development of a practically applicable scale for assessing the knock resistance of gas fuels remains an acute problem.
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