Experimental and Modeling Study of n-Butanol Oxidation at High Temperature

Ignition delay times of n-butanol/oxygen diluted with argon were measured behind reflected shock waves. Experiments were carried out in the temperature range 1200–1650 K, at 2 and 10 atm, and at equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Correlations of ignition delay times were constructed on the basis of measured data through multiple linear regression. A modified kinetic model for the oxidation of n-butanol at high temperature was developed, based on previous models by adding and modifying some key reactions. The modified model shows good prediction of the measured data under all measured conditions. This model was also validated against jet-stirred reactor (JSR) data obtained from the literature, and fairly good agreement was observed. A fair improvement on the simulation of aldehydes (acetaldehyde and butyraldehyde) was found compared to the original model. Finally, reaction pathway and sensitivity analysis indicate that the H-abstraction reactions play a dominant role in the consumption of n-butanol, while unimolecular decomposition reactions become more important with increasing temperature. High-level accurate investigation of the rate constants of H-abstraction reactions and unimolecular decomposition reactions is required to further improve n-butanol oxidation kinetics.