Experimental investigation of the laminar flame speeds of GTL fuel blends

Abstract

This work investigates the laminar flame speed of GTL fuel and its 50%-50% blend with conventional diesel, in a cylindrical bomb capable of measuring laminar flame speed, SN, at different initial temperatures and equivalence ratios. SN was measured by analysing the pressure signals inside the bomb after combustion. It was found that pure GTL-Diesel has the highest flame speed near stoichiometric conditions. However, at lean and rich mixtures, the flame speed of GTL get slightly lower than conventional diesel. The blended fuel has a lower SN at lean and rich mixture conditions than those of other fuels. Studying effect of increasing the initial temperature of the mixture on flame speed revealed that SN of the three tested fuels increases with the increase in initial temperature of the mixture almost linearly. However, the blended fuel has the lowest SN at high temperature. 2016, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.