Experimental and numerical kinetic study of OME1-3 combustion in low-pressure laminar flame
(2026) Combustion and Flame — (2026)
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- This study presents a systematic investigation of the combustion chemistry of oxymethylene ethers (OME1-3) through low-pressure flame speciation and kinetic modeling. By utilizing molecular-beam mass spectrometry (MBMS), this work fills a critical gap in the literature by providing a unique experimental dataset for burnerstabilized OME1-3 flames (equivalence ratios (Φ) of 0.8 and 1.0). The measured temperature profiles reveal a distinct upstream shift of the reaction zone as the chain length increases, indicating enhanced global reactivity with increasing oxymethylene units. A detailed kinetic mechanism, UCL.2.0 (1386 reactions, 247 species), was developed and validated against the experimental mole fraction profiles of major species and key intermediates. The results demonstrate that increasing the molecular chain length from OME1 to OME3 shifts the reaction zone closer to the burner surface, signifying enhanced global reactivity and accelerated formation of major products. This shift is driven by the increased number of –CH2O– units, which facilitates early fuel fragmentation through C–O bond scission and formaldehyde-forming pathways. Kinetic analysis performed with the updated UCL.2.0 mechanism reveals that OME1-3 oxidation is governed by a universal core backbone, where the fuel fragments into C1 oxygenated intermediates, specifically methyl formate (CH3OCHO), formaldehyde (CH2O), and HCO, before entering the CO/CO2 pool. A significant finding is the non-monotonic dependence of formaldehyde peak concentrations on chain length; OME3 exhibits a lower peak than OME2, indicating a "kinetic balance" where higher radical density accelerates CH2O consumption faster than its formation via β-scission. Furthermore, the detection of only minimal C2 hydrocarbons across all conditions confirms that the absence of C–C bonds effectively suppresses soot precursor chemistry regardless of chain length.
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Huo, Y., Dias, V., & Jeanmart, H. (2026). Experimental and numerical kinetic study of OME1-3 combustion in low-pressure laminar flame. Combustion and Flame. Submitted. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/276276 (Original work published 2026)