Detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms for primary reference fuels for diesel cetane number and spark-ignition octane number

A detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism is developed for primary reference fuel mixtures of n-hexadecane and 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethyl nonane for diesel cetane ratings. The mechanisms are constructed using existing rules for reaction pathways and rate expressions developed previously for the primary reference fuels for gasoline octane ratings, n-heptane and iso-octane. These reaction mechanisms are validated by comparisons between computed and experimental results for shock tube ignition and for oxidation under jet-stirred reactor conditions. The combined kinetic reaction mechanism contains the submechanisms for the primary reference fuels for diesel cetane ratings and submechanisms for the primary reference fuels for gasoline octane ratings, all in one integrated large kinetic reaction mechanism. Representative applications of this mechanism to several test problems are presented, describing fuel/air autoignition variations with changes in fuel cetane and octane numbers, and others describing fuel combustion in a jet-stirred reactor environment with the fuel varying from pure 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethyl nonane (cetane number of 15) to pure n-hexadecane (cetane number of 100). (C) 2010 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.