Abstract

Ultrarich filtration combustion of ethane is studied in a porous medium composed of alumina spheres with the aim to achieve optimized conversion to hydrogen and syngas. Temperature, velocities, and chemical products of the combustion waves are recorded experimentally in a range of equivalence ratios phi from stoichiometry (phi = 1) to phi = 2.5. Experimental and numerical results are reported for 3.5 mm diameter alumina spheres; an oxygen content of the oxidizer is varied from 21 to 30%. Two temperature models based on GRI-MECH 3.0 and San Diego-MECH demonstrated good agreement with the experimental results. The maximum hydrogen concentration of 19.3% was recorded at phi = 2.5 and a 30% oxygen content in the oxidizer.