Laminar Burning Velocities of C4–C7 Ethyl Esters in a Spherical Combustion Chamber: Experimental and Detailed Kinetic Modeling

To better understand the combustion characteristics of ethyl esters that could become second-generation biofuels, new experimental data were obtained for the combustion of a series of small ethyl esters. Unstretched laminar burning velocities of C4–C7 ethyl ester–air premixed laminar flames were measured in a spherical combustion chamber over a range of pressures (1–10 bar), initial temperatures (323–473 K), and equivalence ratios (0.7–1.5). These experiments were simulated as well as low-pressure flame structures, jet-stirred reactor species profiles, and ignition delays in shock tubes and rapid compression machines. A new detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism (1845 reactions versus 232 species) was developed and used in this work. The present model shows good agreement with the present experimental data and those taken from the literature. To interpret the results, sensitivity analyses were performed.