MILD combustion of methane and its combustion properties with ammonia and acetaldehyde
PhD ceremony: | Mr S.B. (Seyed) Nourani Najafi |
When: | June 20, 2023 |
Start: | 11:00 |
Supervisor: | prof. dr. H.B. Levinsky |
Co-supervisor: | dr. A.V. (Anatoli V) Mokhov |
Where: | Academy building RUG |
Faculty: | Science and Engineering |

Applying different techniques can reduce emissions and improve the efficiencies of combustion systems with methane (CH4) as fuel. This thesis presents experimental and numerical studies of CH4 combustion at different operating conditions.
In the first research, spatial distributions of temperature, major species, and Hydroxyl (OH) mole fractions of combustion of CH4/N2 fuel mixture under Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) conditions in a laminar-jet-in-hot-coflow (LJHC) configuration are measured using spontaneous Raman and Laser-Induced-Fluorescence (LIF) methods. The measurements are compared with the results of numerical simulations performed using the GRI-Mech 3.0 chemical mechanism and a multicomponent mixture-averaged transport model.
In a different study, the stability, radiation, and structure of laminar axisymmetric CH4/NH3/air diffusion flames have been studied using spectrally resolved measurements of flame radiation, and the spatial distribution of temperature and major species mole fractions obtained by spontaneous Raman scattering.
Lastly, an investigation of the impact of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) addition to CH4 on ignition delay time at high pressure is reported. The ignition delay times of CH4/CH3CHO mixtures are simulated using a chemical mechanism and a kinetic analysis and sensitivity analysis are performed to examine the influence of CH3CHO addition on the CH4 oxidation process. Ignition delay times of CH4/CH3CHO mixtures that were measured in a Rapid Compress Machine (RCM) are also compared with the simulations.