Detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for surrogates of alternative jet fuels

Blends of n- and iso-alkane components are employed as surrogates for Fischer–Tropsch (F–T) and biomass-derived jet fuels. The composition of the blends has been determined based on data available for two F–T fuel samples obtained from different sources, using a systematic optimization approach. A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for combustion of the surrogate blends has been assembled. The mechanism has been validated against fundamental experimental data. While drawing initially from other studies in the literature, the mechanism has been improved by enforcing self-consistency of the kinetic and thermodynamic data for the various surrogate-fuel components represented by the mechanism. These improvements have led to more accurate predictions of flame propagation, flame extinction, and NOx emissions. As part of the validation process, simulations were performed for a wide variety of experimental configurations, as well as for a wide range of temperatures and equivalence ratios for fuel/air mixtures. Comparison of the model predictions to the available literature data confirms the accuracy of the mechanism as well as of the approach for selecting the surrogate blends.