Since the Industrial Revolution, large amounts of ammonia
have
been synthesized by the Haber–Bosch process and used as fertilizer
and chemical materials. Nitrogen fixation by industrial processes
has contributed to the development of human society. However, a serious
concern about the nitrogen cycle has been pointed out from the viewpoint
of the planetary boundary. The planetary boundary quantifies the allowable
limit to maintain a sustainable environment. This nitrogen cycle,
which includes the limit of the biogeochemical flow boundary, was
suggested to exceed the limits and to pose a serious environmental
pollution issue. Therefore, a nitrogen cycle in which nitrogen compounds
are collected from the environment and released into the atmosphere
has recently been proposed. In this cycle, ammonia–water needs
to be processed appropriately. In addition to the standpoint of the
planetary boundary, ammonia–water is focused as a fuel that
is able to be handled more safely. To design combustion systems that
use ammonia–water, its fundamental combustion characteristics
need to be elucidated. The objective of the present study is to clarify
the effects of water vapor dilution on the laminar flame characteristics
of ammonia/water vapor/air premixed flames. A propagating flame in
a constant-volume chamber was observed to determine the laminar burning
velocity and Markstein length for ammonia/water vapor/air premixed
flames for various water vapor dilution ratios. The laminar burning
velocity decreased and the Markstein length increased with an increasing
water vapor dilution ratio. The effects of water vapor dilution on
the laminar burning velocity for ammonia flames were also investigated
by numerical calculations. The numerical results show that the decrease
in the temperature is the dominant factor of the decrease in the laminar
burning velocity with an increase in the water vapor dilution ratio.
This study contributes to the understanding of the effects of water
vapor dilution on the laminar flame characteristics of ammonia flames
up to elevated pressure conditions.