Effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on Ignition Characteristics of N-heptane/N-butanol Blend Fuels in Rapid Compression Machine
The autoignition characteristics of n-heptane/n-butanol were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The effects of oxygen concentration and exhaust gas recirculation rate on the autoignition characteristics were evaluated. A rapid compression machine was employed to measure ignition delay times of blended fuels. A numerical study on the ignition delay time was performed using the CHEMKIN-PRO software to calculate ignition delay time and predict the chemical species in the combustion process. The results revealed that the ignition delay time increased with decreasing oxygen concentration due to the thermal load effect of nitrogen. The oxidation reaction of n-heptane in a low temperature regime was limited with decreasing oxygen concentration. The ignition delay time sharply decreased with exhaust gas recirculation because of the intermediate species in the exhaust gas. Exhaust gas recirculation reduced first ignition delay dramatically. However, the time interval between the first and main ignition increased with increased exhaust gas recirculation.