Measurement and chemical kinetic model predictions of detonation cell size in methanol–oxygen mixtures

In this study, detonation cell sizes of methanol–oxygen mixtures are experimentally measured at different initial pressures and compositions. Good agreement is found between the experiment data and predictions based on the chemical length scales obtained from a detailed chemical kinetic model. To assess the detonation sensitivity in methanol–oxygen mixtures, the results are compared with those of hydrogen–oxygen and methane–oxygen mixtures. Based on the cell size comparison, it is shown that methanol–oxygen is more detonation sensitive than methane–oxygen but less sensitive than hydrogen–oxygen.