Laminar Burning Velocities and Kinetic Modeling of a Renewable E-Fuel: Formic Acid and Its Mixtures with H2 and CO2
Type
ArticleAuthors
Sarathy, Mani
Brequigny, Pierre
Katoch, Amit
Elbaz, Ayman M.
Roberts, William L.

Dibble, Robert W.

Foucher, Fabrice
KAUST Department
Chemical Engineering ProgramClean Combustion Research Center
Combustion and Pyrolysis Chemistry (CPC) Group
Mechanical Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
high-pressure combustion (HPC) Research Group
Date
2020-05-22Online Publication Date
2020-05-22Print Publication Date
2020-06-18Embargo End Date
2021-05-22Submitted Date
2020-03-30Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/662933
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Formic acid is a promising fuel candidate that can be generated by reacting renewable hydrogen with carbon dioxide. However, the burning characteristics of formic acid/air mixtures have not been extensively studied. Furthermore, due to its low reactivity, the addition of hydrogen to formic acid/air mixtures may help with improving burning characteristics. This paper presents the first extensive study of formic acid/air premixed laminar burning velocities, as well as mixtures with hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Unstretched laminar burning velocities and Markstein lengths of formic acid in air for two different unburnt gas temperatures and equivalence ratios are presented. Measurements of formic acid mixed with various proportions of hydrogen and carbon dioxide in air are also studied as a potential renewable fuel for the future. Experimental results demonstrate the low burning velocities of formic acid and the ability to significantly enhance flame speeds by hydrogen addition. A modified detailed kinetic model for combustion of formic acid and its mixtures with hydrogen is proposed by merging well-validated literature models. The proposed model reproduces the experimental observations and provides the basis for understanding the combustion kinetics of formic acid laminar premixed flames, as well as mixtures with hydrogen. It is shown that the HOCO radical is the principal intermediate in formic acid combustion, and hydrogen addition accelerates the decomposition of HOCO radical thereby accelerating burning velocities.Citation
Sarathy, S. M., Brequigny, P., Katoch, A., Elbaz, A. M., Roberts, W. L., Dibble, R. W., & Foucher, F. (2020). Laminar Burning Velocities and Kinetic Modeling of a Renewable E-Fuel: Formic Acid and Its Mixtures with H2 and CO2. Energy & Fuels. doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00944Sponsors
Research performed by the Clean Combustion Research Center was supported by King Abdullah Univeristy of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Saudi Aramco.Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)Journal
Energy & FuelsAdditional Links
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00944ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00944