Combustion behavior of ammonia blended with diethyl ether

Ammonia (NH3) is recognized as a carbon-free hydrogen-carrier fuel with a high content of hydrogen atoms per unit volume. Recently, ammonia has received increasing attention as a promising alternative fuel for internal combustion engine and gas turbine applications. However, the viability of ammonia fueling future combustion devices has several barriers to overcome. To overcome the challenge of its low reactivity, it is proposed to blend it with a high-reactivity fuel. In this work, we have investigated the combustion characteristics of ammonia/diethyl ether (NH3/DEE) blends using a rapid compression machine (RCM) and a constant volume spherical reactor (CVSR). Ignition delay times (IDTs) of NH3/DEE blends were measured using the RCM over a temperature range of 620 to 942 K, pressures near 20 and 40 bar, equivalence ratios (Φ) of 1 and 0.5, and a range of mole fractions of DEE, χDEE, from 0.05 to 0.2 (DEE/NH3 = 5 – 20%). Laminar burning velocities of NH3/DEE premixed flames were measured using the CVSR at 298 K, 1 bar, Φ of 0.9 to 1.3, and χDEE from 0.1 to 0.4. Our results indicate that DEE promotes the reactivity of fuel blends resulting in significant shortening of the ignition delay times of ammonia under RCM conditions. IDTs expectedly exhibited strong dependence on pressure and equivalence ratio for a given blend. Laminar burning velocity was found to increase with increasing fraction of DEE. The burnt gas Markstein length increased with equivalence ratio for χDEE = 0.1 as seen in NH3-air flames, while the opposite evolution of Markstein length was observed with Φ for 0.1 < χDEE ≤ 0.4, as observed in isooctane-air flames. A detailed chemical kinetics model was assembled to analyze and understand the combustion characteristics of NH3/DEE blends.