High-fidelity combustion properties modeling of aviation kerosene with the aid of surrogate construction and its simplified chemical kinetics mechanism

In spite of the great advances in surrogate development for conventional jet fuels, it is still a big challenge to allocate the appropriate components and proportion which accurately emulate the real fuel specifications. So, this study aims to investigate the development of a well-validated surrogate with a simplified chemical kinetics mechanism that delivers a good prediction ability for the key combustion parameters of aviation kerosene in a wide range of conditions for temperature, pressure and equivalence ratio. A surrogate consisting of 4 components including 30% (by mass) tetradecane, 30% iso-dodecane, 24% n-propylcyclohexane, and 16% toluene was developed based on the major components of the real fuel and the similar property targets to the target fuel. Then, a simplified compact mechanism was developed for the proposed surrogate. The model was used for the simulation of ignition delay, flame speed, and species concentration. In general, the results showed a good agreement compared to the experimental data, and a closer emulation of the empirical data for ignition delay and flame speed, in comparison to previously developed models for jet A. Considering the compact size and the predictive ability of the proposed surrogate, the model can be used as a tool for the combustion investigation of kerosene to improve engine designs, efficiency and reduce emissions.