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LAMINAR BURNING VELOCITY OF

METHANE-AIR-DILUENT MIXTURES

Matthew Ulinski, Patrice Moore, Mimmo Elia, Mohamad Metghalchi

Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

1982). Some techniques used to determine laminar burning

ABSTRACT
The laminar burning velocity of methane-air-diluent mixtures
has been measured in the range of 1.0 to 30 atm, 298K to 500K,
fuel/air equivalence ratio of 0.65 to 1.1, and 0 to 10% diluent.
The measurements were made in a constant volume combustion
vessel. A thermodynamic model has been developed to calculate
the laminar burning velocity from a pressure-time history of the
combustion process. The model employs the solution of mass
and energy conservation to determine the burning velocity. A
mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, to simulate residual
gases, was used as diluent.
INTRODUCTION
velocity are: Laser Doppler Anemometry (Hamamoto, 1991,
Egolfopoulos, 1989), high speed camera (Agrawal, 1981), the
Botha-Spalding method (Van Oostendorp and Levinsky, 1990),
and the constant volume combustion vessel (Ryan and Lestz,
1980, Metghalchi and Keck, 1982).
Northeastern University has built a new laboratory to measure
laminar burning velocity. It consists of a constant volume
combustion vessel shown in Figure 1. The constant volume
combustion vessel was chosen because it yields a wide range of
pressure and unburned gas temperature data per run. laminar
burning velocity is calculated using a thermodynamic model that
employs the solution of mass and energy conservation equations
and the acquired pressure-time history data. This paper
represents the preliminary data from this new laboratory.

Since the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1990 and the Energy
Policy Act of 1992, the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) has
been steadily increasing. Methane, the main component of CNG,
is a clean burning gas and a viable alternative to gasoline
(Whalen, 1996). With more stringent air quality requirements
going into effect and incentives from both state and federal
governments (Clinton, 1996) to increase the number of
alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs) on the road, the number of
CNG vehicles on the road is predicted to grow steadily. Because
of this increased use of CNG vehicles, combined with the need to
reduce overall vehicular emissions, more data on the burning
properties of methane-air-diluent mixtures are needed. This
study examines a broad range of methane-air-diluent mixtures,
including diluent mixtures which simulate the effect Exhaust Gas
Recirculation (EGR) residual gases have on laminar burning
velocity.
A fundamental property of combustion is the laminar burning
velocity. It is useful for modeling turbulent combustion (Keck,
EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS
The experimental apparatus consists of a spherical steel vessel, a
fuel/air and vacuum manifold, a data acquisition system and
firing mechanism. The combustion vessel consists of two
hemispheric heads that bolt together to make a 6.0 inch (15.4 cm)
inner diameter sphere. The vessel is made from SAE 4140 alloy
steel and is designed to withstand pressures up to 425 atm. The
vessel is fitted with ports for the firing mechanism, fuel charging
and vacuuming systems, and data acquisition devices
Figure 1). The fuel/air and vacuum manifold system consists of a
vacuum pump and valve system connected to the gas cylinders
for fuel mixing. Fuel/air partial pressures are measured using
Kulite strain gauge pressure transducers in the 0-5 psia and 0-25
psia range. Partial pressures are also checked using mechanical
pressure gauges. All gases used in the experiment are UHP
quality (99.99% ultra high purity).
The data acquisition system consists of a Kistler piezo-electric
pressure transducer and charge amplifier, a thermocouple fitted to

1 Ulinski
measure the initial temperature of the gas inside the vessel, a After filling, the fuel mixture is allowed to sit for five minutes
Keightly/Metrabyte data acquisition card, a data until an equilibrium state is reached. The data acquisition
acquisition/firing program, and ionization probes. The ionization program is then run, which triggers the ignition system and
probes are mounted on the inside of the vessel wall and initiates the data collection. The acquisition program records a
diagonally opposed to monitor the arrival of the flame and pressure signal from a pressure transducer and also signals from
determine if the flame is both spherical and symmetrical. The the ionization probes. Ionization signals that closely match the
peak pressure time indicate that the flame ignited in the center of
the vessel. They also indicate when the flame arrives at the
vessel wall. A minimum of three runs is made at each
stiochiometry. It was determined that this was the minimum
Pressure Transducer Port number of runs needed to provide an accurate statistical sample.
Spark Plug Electrode Port Spark Plug Electrode Port
Top Ionization Port

BURNING VELOCITY CALCULATION

The laminar burning velocity is calculated using the pressure-

time data (Figure 2). As the flame front propagates from the
center of the combustion vessel after ignition, the unburned gas is
15.24 cm
compressed by the expanding flame front and burned gas. This
compression causes the pressure in the vessel to rise and

Thermocouple Port Bottom Ionization Port

Charging Port 10

7
Figure 1: Schematic of Combustion Vessel
Pressure (Atm )

6
Top Ionization Signal
5
vessel is equipped with spark plug electrodes, aligned in the 4
center of the sphere, that ignite the mixture. There is an electronic Bottom Ionization Signal
3
ignition system which is controlled by the data acquisition
2
program. The data acquisition program uses a 12 bit data card
Pressure Trace
which records the combustion event at a rate of 10kHz. 1

0
An experimental run consists of evacuating the vessel and the
0 20 40 60 80
manifold to approximately 250 millitorr1 using a vacuum pump. Time (msec)
The vacuum measurements are taken using a vacuum transducer
and checked with respect to two mechanical vacuum gauges.
After evacuation, the combustion vessel is charged with the fuel
mixture using the partial pressure method. The vessel is first Figure 2- Sample Pressure Trace Showing Ionization Signals
filled with methane gas to a predetermined partial pressure based (For Methane/Air, ϕ=1.00, Pi =1 atm, Ti = 298K )
on the desired stiochiometry. The vessel is then sealed and the
manifold re-evacuated. The manifold is then charged with subsequently, the temperature of the unburned gas, Tu. At any
diluent and the vessel reopened until the predetermined total instant, the vessel contains a mass fraction of burned gas, x, and
partial pressure of the fuel and diluent is reached. Air is added unburned gas, 1-x. By determining the thermodynamic properties
last in a similar manner until the total desired pressure is reached. of the unburned and burned gas, x, the mass fraction of the
(Note that any initial pressures and stoichiometric ratios can be burned gas can be calculated. The mass fraction is then used to
achieved by adjusting the air, fuel and diluent partial pressures). calculate the burning velocity using the well-established
equation:

S u = mvu x& / A f (1)

1
250 millitorr represents half of the resolution, ~0.005 psi, of our where:
partial pressure strain gauge transducers.
m = the total mass of the fuel mixture

2 Ulinski
vu = the specific volume of the unburned fuel mixture and is calculated from the volume of the burned gas:
x& = rate of mass fraction burned
Af = the area of the flame. Vb = xvb m (6)

The determinations of the thermodynamic properties from the RESULTS

pressure data are made with the following assumptions:
1. There are no pressure gradients in the vessel Laminar burning velocity measurements have been made for
2. The flame thickness is negligible2 methane-air mixtures with an equivalence ratio, ϕ, of 0.65 to 1.1.
3. The flame is spherical and smooth Data has been collected over a range of pressures from 1 to 30
4. There is no heat transfer to the vessel wall atm, and diluent additions of 0 to 10%. A typical experimental
5. The unburned gas mixture is ideal and frozen run is shown in Figure 2. The ionization signals are in close
6. The unburned gas mixture goes through an alignment to each other and the peak pressure. This verifies
central ignition and a spherical flame. A minimum of three runs
isentropic process
were done at each condition to provide a good statistical sample.
7. The burned gas mixture is ideal and in
thermodynamic equilibrium

The unburned gas properties, Tu, uu, and vu, the unburned gas 300 350
Unburned Gas Tem peratu re (K)
400 450 500
temperature, internal energy and specific volume are calculated 45
assuming isentropic compression of the unburned gas with
variable specific heat. This is done using the JANAF tables
(ACI, 1986). 40

The burned properties are calculated using STANJAN, a S u (cm/sec)

computer program developed by William Reynolds of Stanford 35

University (Reynolds, 1986) for determining the equilibrium

states of combusted gases. The burned gas properties, vb,, and ub,
30
are determined using STANJAN. To evaluate the burned gas
temperature, Tb, and mass fraction burned, x, conservation of
mass and energy equations are used: 25
0 2 4 6 8
ut = xub + (1 − x)uu
Pressure (atm)
(2)

v t = xv b + (1 − x )v u (3)
Figure 3 - Burning Velocity Plotted Against Pressure and
The two unknowns, Tb and x, are found using the Newton- Unburned Gas Temperature
Raphson method to solve equations (2) and (3). (For Methane/Air, ϕ=1.00, Pi =1 atm, Ti = 298K)

When all the states are fixed, x& , the rate of change of the mass
The calculated laminar burning velocity is shown in Figure 3. It
fraction of burned gas is calculated by using a quadratic fit of
is plotted against pressure and unburned gas temperature for a
three consecutive points and taking the derivative of the mid-
methane-air mixture of ϕ = 1.00 and initial pressure, Pi = 1 . with
point. The burning velocity (Equation 1) is then calculated using
no diluent addition. laminar burning velocity is in the range of
the area of the flame:
35 to 40 cm/.sec for the pressure range of 1 to 8 . This is in good
A f = 4π R 2f (4) agreement with other studies (Agrawal, 1981, Egolfopoulos,
1989). At low pressures the differentiation of the pressure signal
in the laminar burning velocity calculation creates wide scatter.
where, Rf, is the radius of the flame front: This is the result of electric noise and ignition delay in the vessel.
For this reason, as indicate before, the initial 10% of data from
R f = ( 3Vb 4π ) each run is ignored.
1/ 3
(5)

2
This assumption is valid for flame radius greater than 1-2 cm.
due to this and the question of ignition delay on the pressure-
time data, the initial 10% of data is eliminated.

3 Ulinski
 mixtures. Laminar burning velocity is shown to decrease as
45
diluent concentrations increase.
40

P0 = 1 Atm
35

45
30
P0 = 2.5 Atm
S u (cm/sec)

25 40

20 P0 = 5 Atm
35

15

S u ) ( cm /s e c )
30
10
P0 = 10 Atm

V an O o ste nd o rp
25
5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Eg o lf o p o ulo s

Pressure (atm) 20
Ag r awa l

15 This W or k

10
Figure 4 - Burning Velocity Vs. Pressure for Stoichiometric 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
Methane/Air – Ti = 298K, Pi = 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 atm Equivilence Ratio

Laminar burning velocity as a function of initial pressure is

shown in Figure 4. As expected, the laminar burning velocity Figure 6 - Present Work compared to Previous Studies
decreases as Pi increases. The results also show the usefulness
(For Methane/Air, ϕ=1.00, Pi =1 atm, Ti = 298K)
and flexibility of using the constant volume combustion vessel
method to determine laminar burning velocity, because a wide
range of pressures can be studied with a minimum number of A sampling of different methane-air mixtures, from ϕ = 0.65 to
experiments. 1.1, has been plotted in Figure 6. This data was then fitted using
a polynomial to produce the fit shown in the figure. The resultant
equation is:
45
S u 0 = −130.87ϕ i2 + 277.73ϕ i − 112.77
40
Residual = 0% Figure 6 shows the present work’s data compared to other
35 studies.

30 CONCLUSION
Su (cm/sec)

Residual = 5%

25
Residual = 10% The Laminar burning velocity has been calculated for methane-
20 air-diluent gas mixtures. The calculations represent the
preliminary results from Northeastern University’s new Constant
15 Volume Combustion Laboratory. The results of the experiments
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and subsequent thermodynamic analysis of laminar burning
Pressure (atm) velocity are shown to be in good agreement with previous
studies. Further studies will be done to determine the effects of
ranges of ϕ and various diluents.

Figure 5 - Burning Velocity Vs. Pressure for Diluent ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Concentrations of 0, 5 and 10%
(For Methane/Air, ϕ=1.00, Pi =1 atm, Ti = 298K)
The authors would like to acknowledge Ford Motor Company for
their generous financial support. Particular thanks go to Dr.
Figure 5 shows the laminar burning velocity for additions of Thomas Kenney of Ford Motor Company and Dr. James Keck for
N2/CO2 diluent mixtures. A diluent mixture of 86% N2 and 14% their encouragement and advice.
CO2 is used to simulate the effect of residual gases from exhaust
gas recirculation on the laminar burning velocity of methane/air

4 Ulinski
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5 Ulinski