Binary Diffusion Coefficients for Combustion Modeling

Published

November 30, 2002

Author(s)

William S. McGivern, Jeffrey A. Manion

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that combustion models can be as sensitive to the binary diffusion coefficients of the fuel species as to the kinetics of major chemical reactions. We have constructed a reversed-flow chromatographic apparatus for the measurement of binary diffusion coefficients of hydrocarbons, detected using flame ionization detection, and inert species detected by thermal conductivity. We have measured the binary diffusion coefficients for several systems at temperatures from (300-723) K. The system is characterized by determining the binary diffusion coefficients of dilute argon in helium and dilute helium in argon as well as nitrogen in helium using a thermal conductivity detector. The diffusion of dilute methane in helium has been measured using the flame ionization detection and found to be in excellent agreement with literature values. Comparison of the measurements and simulations of the output of the diffusion column in the reversed-flow system show dependences on diffusion time and injection volume that must be considered to ensure accurate diffusion coefficients.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 6th U.S. Combustion Institute Meeting

Conference Dates

May 17-20, 2009

Conference Location

Ann Arbor, MI

Conference Title

6th U.S. Combustion Institute Meeting

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

diffusion, chromatography, combustion, hydrocarbons

Citation

McGivern, W. and Manion, J. (2002), Binary Diffusion Coefficients for Combustion Modeling, Proceedings of the 6th U.S. Combustion Institute Meeting, Ann Arbor, MI (Accessed October 7, 2025)