Combustion Chemistry of Ethanol: Ignition and Speciation Studies in a Rapid Compression Facility

Ethanol remains the most important alternative fuel for the transportation sector. This work presents new experimental data on ethanol ignition, including stable species measurements, obtained with the University of Michigan rapid compression facility. Ignition delay times were determined from pressure histories of ignition experiments with stoichiometric ethanol–air mixtures at pressures of ∼3–10 atm. Temperatures (880–1150 K) were controlled by varying buffer gas composition (Ar, N₂, CO₂). High-speed imaging was used to record chemiluminescence during the experiments, which showed homogeneous ignition events. The results for ignition delay time agreed well with trends on the basis of previous experimental measurements. Speciation experiments were performed using fast gas sampling and gas chromatography to identify and quantify ethanol and 11 stable intermediate species formed during the ignition delay period. Simulations were carried out using a chemical kinetic mechanism available in the literature, and the agreement with the experimental results for ignition delay time and the intermediate species measured was excellent for the majority of the conditions studied. From the simulation results, ethanol + HO₂ was identified as an important reaction at the experimental conditions for both the ignition delay time and intermediate species measurements. Further studies to improve the accuracy of the rate coefficient for ethanol + HO₂ would improve the predictive understanding of intermediate and low-temperature ethanol combustion