Flame-front instabilities of outwardly expanding isooctane/ n -butanol blend-air flames at elevated pressures

Experiments were conducted in a constant volume bomb filled with isooctane/n-butanol blend-air mixtures over a wide range of n-butanol blending ratios, equivalence ratios, and initial pressures. High-speed schlieren photography was used to measure the critical radius for the onset of flame-front instability. Results show that, for a given n-butanol blending ratio, cellular instabilities appear earlier and the critical Peclet number, which represents the onset of instability, is decreased with the increase of the initial pressure and equivalence ratio. Under fuel-rich conditions, the critical Peclet number increases with the increase of the n-butanol blending ratio. Theoretical calculation of the critical Peclet number was also conducted to interpret the effects of n-butanol on the flame-front instabilities of the blends. Results show that, for rich mixture conditions, with the increase of the n-butanol blending ratio, the overall activation energy of the mixtures is decreased and, thus, the thermal-diffusional instabilities are suppressed. While under fuel-lean conditions, the thermal-diffusional instabilities are favored. As a consequence, with an increasing n-butanol blending ratio, the critical Peclet number is expected to be decreased under fuel-lean conditions and increased under fuel-rich conditions.