Experimental study on premixed combustion of dimethyl ether-hydrogen-air mixtures

The premixed flames of DME-hydrogen-air premixed mixture were studied by the outwardly expanding flame and schlieren photography. The influences from equivalence ratio, hydrogen addition and initial pressure on the flame speed and combustion characteristics are analyzed. The results show that the flame speed, the laminar burning velocity and the mass burning rate increase with the increase of hydrogen addition. Increasing the ratio of hydrogen to DME will shorten the combustion duration. In the case of small hydrogen addition, the Markstein length decreases with the increase of equivalence ratio, and this reveals that lean mixture has better flame front stability than of rich mixture. In the case of large hydrogen addition, the Markstein length increases with the increase of equivalence ratio, and this indicates that rich mixture has better flame front stability than that of lean mixture. The initial pressure has larger influence on the combustion pressure than that from hydrogen addition. The flame development duration decreases with the increase of hydrogen addition and/or with the increase of equivalence ratio. Addition of hydrogen into DME can improve the ignitability of the mixtures and fasten the combustion.