Ammonia is carbon-free and thus is a promising renewable
fuel for
carbon neutrality. However, because ammonia has low reactivity and
narrow flammability range, blended fuels of ammonia/n-heptane are often used to trigger high-temperature combustion in
internal combustion engines. In this study, the ignition and flame
propagation of ammonia/n-heptane dual-fuels were
investigated in a specified mixing layer using a skeletal mechanism
via a high-fidelity simulation. The results showed that auto-ignition
was initiated at the locations of the most reactive mixture fraction
ξmr calculated by the zero-dimensional homogeneous
reactor model. Two cool and hot flame fronts were observed to propagate
both toward the fuel-lean and fuel-rich regions. A stabilized hot
flame front identified by the temperature isoline was observed in
the fuel-rich region as a result of the low reaction rates and adiabatic
flame temperatures. The temperature of the pilot fuel (T
Fuel) significantly affected the flame structures in the
presence of compositional stratification. When T
Fuel was increased, the dual-fuel flame structure transitioned
from quadruple peaks in the heat release rate (HRR) profiles at 800
K to double peaks at 900 K and to a single peak at 1000 K. The propagation
of the flame front was controlled by the cool flame during the early
stage and the gradient of the ignition delay times. Subsequently,
it transformed into a diffusion-driven flame. Finally, the average
HRR profiles had double peaks at 800–1000 K owing to the presence
of cool and hot flames. Ammonia is expected to promote the oxidization
of n-heptane via the active reaction NO+HO2 ⇌ NO2 + OH at 800 K, causing a high peak of HRR.