RP-3 aviation kerosene surrogate fuel and the chemical reaction kinetic model

Abstract

A four-component RP-3 aviation kerosene surrogate fuel, comprising 40% n-decane/42% ndodecane/13% ethycyclohexane/5% p-xylene (molar fraction), was presented. Experiments showed the physical and chemical similarity of the surrogate fuel to the real RP-3. Counterflow, twin-flame experiments were used to determine the laminar flame speeds of both the real and the surrogate fuel and showed that the surrogate fuel accurately modeled the burning rate of real RP-3. A semi-detailed chemical reaction mechanism for ignition and oxidation of the RP-3 surrogate fuel that consists of 168 species and 1089 elementary reactions has been developed. Experimental results validate the model and highlight its ability to accurately predict the ignition delay times and laminar flame speeds of real RP-3.