Development of a Chemical-Kinetic Mechanism of a Four-Component Surrogate Fuel for RP-3 Kerosene

RP-3 kerosene is the most widely used aviation kerosene in China, and research on its chemical-kinetic mechanism is significant for understanding the combustion characteristics. Based on a novel four-component surrogate fuel consisting of n-dodecane, 2,5-dimethylhexane, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and decalin (54, 22, 14, and 10% by mole), the detailed chemical-kinetic mechanism of the corresponding RP-3 surrogate fuel with 1333 species and 6803 reactions has been developed and then reduced to 145 species and 818 reactions for high-temperature conditions. After that, the merged surrogate mechanism of surrogate fuel was validated by various experimental data sets for each individual surrogate component. Then, the surrogate mechanism was validated by comparing the simulation and experimental data of the ignition delay times, species concentrations in a jet-stirred reactor, and laminar flame speeds. Good agreements between simulations and experiments were observed. In addition, using the sensitivity analysis method, the key reactions of RP-3 surrogate fuels were compared and analyzed. In summary, the mechanism developed in this study can accurately predict the ignition, oxidation, and flame propagation characteristics of RP-3 aviation kerosene. The novel surrogate model can help deeply understand the combustion characteristics of RP-3 aviation kerosene, and it is used for high-precision numerical simulation of combustion reaction flow.