Surface Ignition and Heterogeneous Catalysis of Hydrocarbon Fuels

摘要

This work shows theoredically and experimentally that catalytic combustion is a viable concept at time scales characteristics of those in an engine. A transient code has been developed for hydrogen and carbon monoxide code over a flat plate. Results show that ignition can occur in a time as short as .0001 sec at reasonable temperatures. General operating regions for ignition as a function of the fundamental variables are developed. Radiation heat transfer was also found to be important. Experiments were done for hydrogen combustion over a flat plate were completed which verify the trends seen above. In addition several unexpected phenomenon were observed including self sustained oscillations and isothermal multiplicity and modeled. A detailed kinetic model for formaldehyde combustion has been developed. The main conclusion from the above studies is that catalytic combustion is a complicated process, but it's a viable concept under time scales characteristics of those in an engine. (Author)