Experimental and numerical study of ammonia combustion

Duynslaegher, Catherine
(2011)

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  • Duynslaegher, CatherineUCLouvain
    author
Supervisors
Vandooren, Jacques
 ;
Jeanmart, Hervé
Abstract
(en) The problems of oil resources and CO2 emissions becoming increasingly alarming, the search for alternatives to fossil fuels is an important concern of our society. Even though hydrogen has been recognized as a promising fuel, implementing a global hydrogen-based economy is at present a non-feasible approach unless a suitable storage medium could be found. To bypass such difficulties, the use of ammonia in a modified spark ignition engine has been suggested. Since hydrogen must still be produced to obtain ammonia in large amount, it can be seen as a H2 vector. The successful application of ammonia as an alternative transportation fuel should be based on a detailed understanding of its combustion characteristics. The main objective of this thesis is thus the study of the ammonia combustion reaction in several conditions of pressure and temperature. First of all, a low pressure ammonia flames structure study allows a more fundamental investigation of the ammonia consumption and products formation pathways. The elaboration of a kinetic mechanism able to reproduce the experimentally observed phenomena is the main objective of this first part. Then, the kinetic of ammonia under atmospheric pressure is investigated thanks to an ammonia laminar burning velocity study. Because of its low value, the laminar flame speed of ammonia in air is to date still unknown and in that way this part makes a significant contribution in the field of ammonia combustion research. This part allows also to validate the kinetic mechanism at atmospheric pressure. Finally, the combustion of ammonia in a spark ignition engine is experimentally investigated. The effects of the compression ratio, the spark timing and the equivalence ratio on the exhaust gases composition and the engine performances are analyzed. Such a study has never been performed for ammonia to the best of our knowledge.
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Duynslaegher, C. (2011). Experimental and numerical study of ammonia combustion. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/152453