Numerical Investigation on n-Butane Auto-Ignition Characteristics with Surface Reactions in a Micro-Scale Combustor

  • LI Fan ,
  • WANG Bing ,
  • YANG Haolin ,
  • WANG Xiaohan ,
  • XU Junchao ,
  • CHU Huaqiang
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  • 1. School of Energy and Environment, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, China
    2. Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China

Online published: 2025-09-01

Supported by

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52406120), Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 2408085QE165), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2023A1515012317).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary modeling investigation into the inhibiting effect of the internal walls of micro-scale combustor on the auto-ignition characteristics of n-butane/air mixtures. Key gas-phase species for surface model were selected based on reaction temperature ranges and incorporated into a skeletal n-butane oxidation mechanism. Simulations were performed in a closed adiabatic environment to evaluate the impact of surface reactions on ignition delay times under varying operation conditions, including initial gas-phase temperature, pressure, equivalence ratio, surface-to-volume ratio, and wall adsorption coefficient. Experimental comparisons indicated longer measured ignition delay times than predicated values in medium and low temperature ranges due to surface chemical effects, with up to 35.42% deviation. Simulation results highlighted the importance of PC4H9O2 and SC4H9O2 radicals’ wall reaction at 700–800 K, increasing ignition delay times by 104 to 105 times. High-temperature and low-pressure conditions intensified this inhibitory effect. Increased wall adsorption coefficient significantly extended ignition delays, particularly under lean-fuel condition. Higher surface-to-volume ratio led to the greater consumption of gas-phase radical through heterogeneous surface combination. Beyond a certain threshold, the ignition delay time increase rate slowed down and tended to stabilize. Sensitivity analysis revealed that CH3+HO2→CH3O+OH was critical for high-temperature auto-ignition, while surface reactions became less sensitive with increasing equivalence ratio. This work provides a foundation for future modeling efforts that aim to couple reaction kinetics with a detailed physical model for micro-scale combustion applications of n-butane.

Cite this article

LI Fan , WANG Bing , YANG Haolin , WANG Xiaohan , XU Junchao , CHU Huaqiang . Numerical Investigation on n-Butane Auto-Ignition Characteristics with Surface Reactions in a Micro-Scale Combustor[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(5) : 1640 -1655 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2157-7

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