A Rapid Compression Study of the Butanol Isomers at Elevated Pressure

TL;DR

This study examines the autoignition delay of butanol isomers at 15 bar and 725-870 K, revealing their relative reactivity and evaluating existing kinetic models' predictive accuracy.

Contribution

It provides a rapid experimental comparison of butanol isomers' ignition delays at elevated pressure and assesses the performance of current kinetic mechanisms.

Findings

n-butanol is most reactive among the isomers

No NTC or two-stage ignition observed under studied conditions

Existing kinetic models tend to over-predict ignition delays

Abstract

Investigation of the autoignition delay of the butanol isomers has been performed at elevated pressure of 15 bar and low to intermediate temperatures of 725-870 K. Stoichiometric mixtures made in nitrogen/oxygen air were studied. For the temperature and pressure conditions in this study, no NTC or two-stage ignition behavior were observed. The reactivity of the isomers of butanol, in terms of inverse ignition delay, was ranked as n-butanol > sec-butanol ~ iso-butanol > tert-butanol. Predictions of the ignition delay by several kinetic mechanisms available in the literature generally over-predict the ignition delays.