A lean methane premixed laminar flame doped with components of diesel fuel: I. n-Butylbenzene

To better understand the chemistry involved in the combustion of components of diesel fuel, the structure of a laminar lean premixed methane flame doped with n-butylbenzene has been investigated. The inlet gases contained 7.1% (molar) methane, 36.8% oxygen, and 0.96% n-butylbenzene corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 0.74 and a ratio C10H14/CH4 of 13.5%. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa using argon as diluent, with a gas velocity at the burner of 49.2 cm/s at 333 K. Quantified species included the usual methane C0–C2 combustion products, but also 16 C3–C5 hydrocarbons, and 7 C1–C3 oxygenated compounds, as well as 20 aromatic products. A new mechanism for the oxidation of n-butylbenzene is proposed whose predictions are in satisfactory agreement with measured species profiles in flames and flow reactor experiments. The main reaction pathways of consumption of n-butylbenzene have been derived from flow rate analyses.