Characterization of NOx, N20, and CO for Lean-Premixed Combustion in a High-Pressure Jet-Stirred Reactor

A high-pressure jet-stirred reactor (HP-JSR) has been built and applied to the study of NOx and N2o formation and CO oxidation in lean-Premixed (LPM) combustion. The measurements obtained with the HP-JSR Provide information on how NOx forms in lean-premixed, high-intensity combustion, and provide comparison to NOx data published recently for practical LPM combustors. The HP-JSR results indicate that the NOx yield is significantly influenced by the rate of relaxation of super-equilibrium concentrations of the O-atom. Also indicated by the HP-JSR results are characteristic NOx formation rates. Two computational models are used to simulate the HP-JSR and to provide comparison to the measurements. The first is a chemical reactor model (CRM) consisting of two perfectly stirred reactors (PSRs) placed in series. The second is a stirred reactor model with finite rate macromixing (i.e., recirculation) and micromixing. The micromixing is treated by either coalescence-dispersion (CD) or interaction by exchange with the mean (IEM) theory. Additionally, a model based on one-dimensional gas dynamics with chemical reaction is used to assess chemical conversions within the gas sample probe.