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LSENS, a general chemical kinetics and sensitivity analysis code for homogeneous gas-phase reactions. 2: Code description and usage

LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part 2 of a series of three reference publications that describe LSENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part 2 describes the code, how to modify it, and its usage, including preparation of the problem data file required to execute LSENS. Code usage is illustrated by several example problems, which further explain preparation of the problem data file and show how to obtain desired accuracy in the computed results. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions. Part 1 (NASA RP-1328) derives the governing equations describes the numerical solution procedures for the types of problems that can be solved by lSENS. Part 3 (NASA RP-1330) explains the kinetics and kinetics-plus-sensitivity-analysis problems supplied with LSENS and presents sample results.

Radhakrishnan, Krishnan↗

Numerical simulation of Jet-A combustion approximated by improved propane chemical kinetics

Through the effort devoted to the chemical kinetics for propane air combustion, three mechanisms are developed. The full mechanism consists of 131 reactions. This mechanism is used as a guide for the evaluation of other mechanisms, but because of the long expected cpu time, it is not to be incorporated into the computer code KIVA-II for actual simulation. Through the sensitivity analysis, a reduced mechanism of 45 reactions is produced. But the calculated results from the 45 reaction mechanism are always low in temperature. Some efforts are devoted to correct this situation and details are included in this report. A simplified mechanism of reactions is successfully improved and computed results are compared with experimental data. Contour plots of physical parameters and species concentrations and results for emission indices of CO and NOx are presented.

Ying, Shuh-Jing↗

LSENS: A General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code for homogeneous gas-phase reactions. Part 3: Illustrative test problems

LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part 3 of a series of three reference publications that describe LSENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part 3 explains the kinetics and kinetics-plus-sensitivity analysis problems supplied with LSENS and presents sample results. These problems illustrate the various capabilities of, and reaction models that can be solved by, the code and may provide a convenient starting point for the user to construct the problem data file required to execute LSENS. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions.

Bittker, David A.↗

LSENS, A General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code for Homogeneous Gas-Phase Reactions: Code Description and Usage - Part 2

LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part II of a series of three reference publications that describe LSENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part II describes the code, how to modify it, and its usage, including preparation of the problem data file required to execute LSENS. Code usage is illustrated by several example problems, which further explain preparation of the problem data file and show how to obtain desired accuracy in the computed results. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions. Part I (NASA RP-1328) derives the governing equations and describes the numerical solution procedures for the types of problems that can be solved by LSENS. Part III (NASA RP-1330) explains the kinetics and kinetics-plus-sensitivity-analysis problems supplied with LSENS and presents sample results.

Radhakrishnan, Krishnan↗

LSENS: A General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code for homogeneous gas-phase reactions. Part 1: Theory and numerical solution procedures

LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part 1 of a series of three reference publications that describe LENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part 1 derives the governing equations and describes the numerical solution procedures for the types of problems that can be solved. The accuracy and efficiency of LSENS are examined by means of various test problems, and comparisons with other methods and codes are presented. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions.

Radhakrishnan, Krishnan↗

Detailed Chemical Kinetic Modeling of Hydrazine Decomposition

The purpose of this research project is to develop and validate a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for gas-phase hydrazine decomposition. Hydrazine is used extensively in aerospace propulsion, and although liquid hydrazine is not considered detonable, many fuel handling systems create multiphase mixtures of fuels and fuel vapors during their operation. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of the decomposition chemistry of hydrazine under a variety of conditions can be of value in assessing potential operational hazards in hydrazine fuel systems. To gain such knowledge, a reasonable starting point is the development and validation of a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for gas-phase hydrazine decomposition. A reasonably complete mechanism was published in 1996, however, many of the elementary steps included had outdated rate expressions and a thorough investigation of the behavior of the mechanism under a variety of conditions was not presented. The current work has included substantial revision of the previously published mechanism, along with a more extensive examination of the decomposition behavior of hydrazine. An attempt to validate the mechanism against the limited experimental data available has been made and was moderately successful. Further computational and experimental research into the chemistry of this fuel needs to be completed.

Meagher, Nancy E.↗

The Effects of Consistent Chemical Kinetics Calculations on the Pressure-Temperature Profiles and Emission Spectra of Hot Jupiters

In this work we investigate the impact of calculating non-equilibrium chemical abundances consistently with the temperature structure for the atmospheres of highly-irradiated, close-in gas giant exoplanets. Chemical kinetics models have been widely used in the literature to investigate the chemical compositions of hot Jupiter atmospheres which are expected to be driven away from chemical equilibrium via processes such as vertical mixing and photochemistry. All of these models have so far used pressure-temperature (P-T) profiles as fixed model input. This results in a decoupling of the chemistry from the radiative and thermal properties of the atmosphere, despite the fact that in nature they are intricately linked. We use a one-dimensional radiative-convective equilibrium model, ATMO, which includes a sophisticated chemistry scheme to calculate P-T profiles which are fully consistent with non-equilibrium chemical abundances, including vertical mixing and photochemistry. Our primary conclusion is that, in cases of strong chemical disequilibrium, consistent calculations can lead to differences in the P-T profile of up to 100 K compared to the P-T profile derived assuming chemical equilibrium. This temperature change can, in turn, have important consequences for the chemical abundances themselves as well as for the simulated emission spectra. In particular, we find that performing the chemical kinetics calculation consistently can reduce the overall impact of non-equilibrium chemistry on the observable emission spectrum of hot Jupiters. Simulated observations derived from non-consistent models could thus yield the wrong interpretation. We show that this behaviour is due to the non-consistent models violating the energy budget balance of the atmosphere.

planets and satellites↗

Physical and numerical sources of computational inefficiency in integration of chemical kinetic rate equations: Etiology, treatment and prognosis

The design of a very fast, automatic black-box code for homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems requires an understanding of the physical and numerical sources of computational inefficiency. Some major sources reviewed in this report are stiffness of the governing ordinary differential equations (ODE's) and its detection, choice of appropriate method (i.e., integration algorithm plus step-size control strategy), nonphysical initial conditions, and too frequent evaluation of thermochemical and kinetic properties. Specific techniques are recommended (and some advised against) for improving or overcoming the identified problem areas. It is argued that, because reactive species increase exponentially with time during induction, and all species exhibit asymptotic, exponential decay with time during equilibration, exponential-fitted integration algorithms are inherently more accurate for kinetics modeling than classical, polynomial-interpolant methods for the same computational work. But current codes using the exponential-fitted method lack the sophisticated stepsize-control logic of existing black-box ODE solver codes, such as EPISODE and LSODE. The ultimate chemical kinetics code does not exist yet, but the general characteristics of such a code are becoming apparent.

Pratt, D. T.↗

Critical evaluation of Jet-A spray combustion using propane chemical kinetics in gas turbine combustion simulated by KIVA-2

Jet-A spray combustion has been evaluated in gas turbine combustion with the use of propane chemical kinetics as the first approximation for the chemical reactions. Here, the numerical solutions are obtained by using the KIVA-2 computer code. The KIVA-2 code is the most developed of the available multidimensional combustion computer programs for application of the in-cylinder combustion dynamics of internal combustion engines. The released version of KIVA-2 assumes that 12 chemical species are present; the code uses an Arrhenius kinetic-controlled combustion model governed by a four-step global chemical reaction and six equilibrium reactions. Researchers efforts involve the addition of Jet-A thermophysical properties and the implementation of detailed reaction mechanisms for propane oxidation. Three different detailed reaction mechanism models are considered. The first model consists of 131 reactions and 45 species. This is considered as the full mechanism which is developed through the study of chemical kinetics of propane combustion in an enclosed chamber. The full mechanism is evaluated by comparing calculated ignition delay times with available shock tube data. However, these detailed reactions occupy too much computer memory and CPU time for the computation. Therefore, it only serves as a benchmark case by which to evaluate other simplified models. Two possible simplified models were tested in the existing computer code KIVA-2 for the same conditions as used with the full mechanism. One model is obtained through a sensitivity analysis using LSENS, the general kinetics and sensitivity analysis program code of D. A. Bittker and K. Radhakrishnan. This model consists of 45 chemical reactions and 27 species. The other model is based on the work published by C. K. Westbrook and F. L. Dryer.

Nguyen, H. L.↗

The applications of chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics to planetary atmospheres research

A review of the applications of chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics to planetary atmospheres research during the past four decades is presented with an emphasis on chemical equilibrium models and thermochemical kinetics. Several current problems in planetary atmospheres research such as the origin of the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets, atmosphere-surface interactions on Venus and Mars, deep mixing in the atmospheres of the gas giant planets, and the origin of the atmospheres of outer planet satellites all require laboratory data on the kinetics of thermochemical reactions for their solution.

Fegley, Bruce, Jr.↗

Chemical kinetics computer program for static and flow reactions

General chemical kinetics computer program for complex gas mixtures has been developed. Program can be used for any homogeneous reaction in either one dimensional flow or static system. It is flexible, accurate, and easy to use. It can be used for any chemical system for which species thermodynamic data and reaction rate constant data are known.

Bittker, D. A.↗

Chemical kinetic reaction mechanism for the combustion of propane

A detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism for the combustion of propane is presented and discussed. The mechanism consists of 27 chemical species and 83 elementary chemical reactions. Ignition and combustion data as determined in shock tube studies were used to evaluate the mechanism. Numerical simulation of the shock tube experiments showed that the kinetic behavior predicted by the mechanism for stoichiometric mixtures is in good agrement with the experimental results over the entire temperature range examined (1150-2600K). Sensitivity and theoretical studies carried out using the mechanism revealed that hydrocarbon reactions which are involved in the formation of the HO2 radical and the H2O2 molecule are very important in the mechanism and that the observed nonlinear behavior of ignition delay time with decreasing temperature can be interpreted in terms of the increased importance of the HO2 and H2O2 reactions at the lower temperatures.

Jachimowski, C. J.↗

A Chemical Kinetic Mechanism for the Ignition of Silane/Hydrogen Mixtures

A chemical kinetic reaction mechanism for the oxidation of silane/hydrogen mixtures is presented and discussed. Shock-tube ignition delay time data were used to evaluate and refine the mechanism. Good agreement between experimental results and the results predicted by the mechanism was obtained by adjusting the rate coefficient for the reaction SiH3 + O2 yields SiH2O + OH. The reaction mechanism was used to theoretically investigate the ignition characteristics of silane/hydrogen mixtures. The results revealed that over the entire range of temperature examined (800 K to 1200 K), substantial reduction in ignition delay times is obtained when silane is added to hydrogen.

Jachimowski, C. J.↗

Reduced chemical kinetics for propane combustion

It is pointed out that a detailed chemical kinetics mechanism for the combustion of propane consists of 40 chemical species and 118 elementary chemical reactions. An attempt is made to reduce the number of chemical species and elementary chemical reactions so that the computer run times and storage requirements may be greatly reduced in three-dimensional gas turbine combustion flow calculations, while maintaining accurate predictions of the propane combustion and exhaust emissions. By way of a sensitivity analysis, the species of interest and chemical reactions are classified in descending order of importance. Nineteen species are chosen, and their pressure, temperature, and concentration profiles are presented for the reduced mechanisms, which are then compared with those from the full 118 reactions. It is found that 45 reactions involving 27 species have to be kept for comparable agreement. A comparison of the results obtained from the 45 reactions to that of the full 118 shows that the pressure and temperature profiles and concentrations of C3H8, O2, N2, H2O, CO, and CO2 are within 10 percent of maximum change.

Ying, Shuh-Jing↗

Shock tube study of the fuel structure effects on the chemical kinetic mechanisms responsible for soot formation, part 2

Soot formation in oxidation of allene, 1,3-butadiene, vinylacetylene and chlorobenzene and in pyrolysis of ethylene, vinylacetylene, 1-butene, chlorobenzene, acetylen-hydrogen, benzene-acetylene, benzene-butadiene and chlorobenzene-acetylene argon-diluted mixtures was studied behind reflected shock waves. The results are rationalized within the framework of the conceptual models. It is shown that vinylacetylene is much less sooty than allene, which indicates that conjugation by itself is not a sufficient factor for determining the sooting tendency of a molecule. Structural reactivity in the context of the chemical kinetics is the dominant factor in soot formation. Detailed chemical kinetic modeling of soot formation in pyrolysis of acetylene is reported. The main mass growth was found to proceed through a single dominant route composed of conventional radical reactions. The practically irreversible formation reactions of the fused polycyclic aromatics and the overshoot by hydrogen atom over its equilibrium concentration are the g-driving kinetic forces for soot formation.

Frenklach, M.↗