Ignition Quality Tester (IQT): An Alternative for Characterizing the Combustion Kinetics of Low Volatility Fuels: Abstract No. PHYS-227

The Ignition Quality Tester (IQT) is a constant volume spray combustion system that can be heated and pressurized to conditions that are similar to a diesel engine at top dead center. With no moving parts and the ability to handle low volatility fuels, the IQT can be a bridge between engines and traditional methods for studying chemical kinetics. By comparing experimental data with modelpredictions, the IQT has been used to validate skeletal kinetic models of ignition. CFD modeling of the IQT using KIVA-3V was used to predict ignition of n-heptane accurately. Operating the IQT in a regime where chemical kinetics dominates (long ignition delays) allowed NTC behavior to be observed for some isomers of heptane. Experimental results with the low volatility fuel heptamethylnonanealso show NTC behavior. At long ignition delays, experimental results can be compared with 0-D detailed chemical mechanisms.