TY - JOUR

T1 - Experimental and modeling study of saturation currents in premixed flames of C1-C4 hydrocarbons: validation of kinetic mechanisms and evaluation of CH chemistry

AU - Dmitriev, Artëm M.

AU - Cherepanov, Andrey V.

AU - Antashov, Daniil A.

AU - Chernov, Anatoly A.

AU - Knyazkov, Denis A.

N1 - This work was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project 25-13-00383), https://rscf.ru/en/project/25-13-00383/. The authors gratefully acknowledge A.G. Shmakov for his assistance in manufacturing the components of the experimental setup

PY - 2026/5/1

Y1 - 2026/5/1

N2 - Saturation currents induced by externally applied electric fields were measured in premixed laminar burner-stabilized flames of methane, ethylene, ethane, propane, and n -butane at 1 atm over a wide range of equivalence ratios and unburnt mixture flow rates. The polarity and magnitude of the applied field had no influence on the measured currents, confirming the absence of detectable perturbations to the neutral flame chemistry. Temperature and the concentrations of O and CH radicals in the flames were numerically simulated using detailed kinetic mechanisms to calculate the saturation currents. The performance of 11 chemical kinetic mechanisms for small hydrocarbon combustion was evaluated against the new measurements and literature data, comprising 256 experimental points from 16 datasets. None of the mechanisms accurately reproduced all measurements; most overpredicted saturation currents due to excessive CH concentrations. The UCSD mechanism showed the best performance in predicting the measurements in methane flames. AramcoMech 2.0, CRECK, and UCSD are the best-performing mechanisms across all fuels. Integrated rate-of-production and sensitivity analyses identified key reactions controlling CH levels and thus saturation currents. Their rate parameters were critically assessed. The role of pathways involving C2-intermediates in CH production was found to increase with carbon content in fuel. A modified version of AramcoMech 2.0, incorporating updated rate constants, is proposed, yielding improved agreement with experimental trends for all fuels. The results provide new constraints for refining CH submechanisms in kinetic models, with implications for accurate prediction of prompt-NO formation and the behavior of electrified flames.

AB - Saturation currents induced by externally applied electric fields were measured in premixed laminar burner-stabilized flames of methane, ethylene, ethane, propane, and n -butane at 1 atm over a wide range of equivalence ratios and unburnt mixture flow rates. The polarity and magnitude of the applied field had no influence on the measured currents, confirming the absence of detectable perturbations to the neutral flame chemistry. Temperature and the concentrations of O and CH radicals in the flames were numerically simulated using detailed kinetic mechanisms to calculate the saturation currents. The performance of 11 chemical kinetic mechanisms for small hydrocarbon combustion was evaluated against the new measurements and literature data, comprising 256 experimental points from 16 datasets. None of the mechanisms accurately reproduced all measurements; most overpredicted saturation currents due to excessive CH concentrations. The UCSD mechanism showed the best performance in predicting the measurements in methane flames. AramcoMech 2.0, CRECK, and UCSD are the best-performing mechanisms across all fuels. Integrated rate-of-production and sensitivity analyses identified key reactions controlling CH levels and thus saturation currents. Their rate parameters were critically assessed. The role of pathways involving C2-intermediates in CH production was found to increase with carbon content in fuel. A modified version of AramcoMech 2.0, incorporating updated rate constants, is proposed, yielding improved agreement with experimental trends for all fuels. The results provide new constraints for refining CH submechanisms in kinetic models, with implications for accurate prediction of prompt-NO formation and the behavior of electrified flames.

KW - CH predictions

KW - Charged species

KW - Chemiionization

KW - Electric-field assisted combustion

KW - Ions in flames

KW - Laminar premixed flame

KW - Saturation current

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025372058

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c27df328-0ab6-331f-acb5-1e875cfdb02d/

U2 - 10.1016/j.fuel.2025.138070

DO - 10.1016/j.fuel.2025.138070

M3 - Article

VL - 411

JO - Fuel

JF - Fuel

SN - 0016-2361

M1 - 138070

ER -