The characteristics of the spray behaviour and ignition delay of dimethyl ether (DME) were investigated in both experiment and simulation. DME spray images were taken in a constant-volume vessel by using Mie scattering and shadowgraph methods to measure the spray tip penetration and the spray angle of the liquid and vapour phase. The images were acquired at low- and high-temperature conditions and it was found that the spray development was dependent on the ambient density. The ignition delay of DME spray was also measured under high pressure and temperature conditions and compared with that of diesel spray in the same conditions.
To predict the ignition and combustion characteristics of DME, a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism consisting of 28 species and 45 reactions was derived from a detailed mechanism. Calculated results in homogeneous conditions agreed well with the measured data from shock tube experiments. Then three-dimensional simulation of spray development and ignition delay of DME spray was performed using a flamelet model associated with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and the reduced chemical kinetic mechanism. The results showed good agreement with the above experimental results.
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