Martin Lawless, Kimberly Meehan, David Rophael, David Tan ME160 Spring 2012 Final Research Module Proposal

20 March 2012 The laminar flame speed within combustion is proposed to be studied. Laminar flame speed is of interest in internal combustion engines, as a faster combustion equates to less energy lost due to heat transfer. Identifying the conditions for the fastest combustion, such as the amount of fuel and air allowed into the combustion chamber and the air to fuel equivalence ratio, will allow for optimization of engine system design. This experiment will focus on two variables, the air-fuel ratio and the cross-sectional area of the flame chamber. The goal of the experiment will be to find the relationships between the laminar flame speed and these two variables. The schematic of the proposed experiment may be found in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. Schematic of proposed experiment setup. A propane tank will feed propane into the flame chamber. On the other side, air will be fed into the flame chamber via the air lines in the laboratory. Flow rates will be varied via valves and measured with flow meters. Mixed fuel and air enter the flame chamber through a flame arrestor. A spark plug will be used to ignite the flame. The flame arrestor will be used to stop the flame from traveling back to the propane tank.

A glass reaction chamber will be mounted within the fume hood in the Cooper Union Automotive Engine Lab. The reactants of the combustion reaction will be supplied by the air line within the lab and a propane tank, which is readily available. Tubing will connect the propane and the air to a central mixing chamber to premix the fuel-air mixture. Each line will be connected to a valve to control volumetric flow and a flow meter, allowing for specified air-fuel ratios. A bill of materials may be seen in Table 1 below: Table 1. Bill of Materials Purpose Material Housing/Setup Propane Tank Tubing (rated for propane) Glass Chamber Flame Arrestor Valve Electric lighter Pipe/Tube Fittings Measurement Ruler Air Flow Meters Camcorder (borrow from AV) Quantity 1 N.A. 3 1 2 1 ~7 1 2 1

The purpose of the experiment is to determine the air fuel ratio for maximum flame speed. The combustion process of an internal combustion engine is modeled with the Otto cycle under the assumption of an instantaneous combustion after the compression stroke. If the combustion is not instantaneous, the model shows a decrease in the net output work and overall efficiency. Therefore it is necessary to optimize the flame speed within the cylinder. Multiple glass chambers will be used as the flame chamber in order to model various engine geometries.

References Guidelines for Vapor Cloud Explosion, Pressure Vessel Burst, BLEVE and Flash Fire Hazards (2nd Edition) 2010 Center for Chemical Process Safety/AIChE Section 6.2.1 Estimating the Flammable Mass of a Vapor Cloud By: Woodward, John L. 1998 Center for Chemical Process Safety/AIChE Section 4.4.6