A Shock-Tube Autoignition Study of Jet, Rocket, and Diesel Fuels

Ignition delay times were measured for gas-phase jet fuel (Jet-A), rocket propellant (RP-1), and diesel fuel (DF-2) in a heated, high-pressure shock tube. The measurements were performed behind reflected shock waves for each fuel in air over a temperature range of 785–1293 K, a pressure range of 7–26 atm, and at two equivalence ratios, ϕ = 0.5 and 1.0. Ignition delay time was determined using the pressure and OH* chemiluminescence (∼307 nm) signals at the endwall location. Measured ignition delay times for Jet-A are in excellent agreement with the available historical data from the literature. Overall, the results showed few differences in ignition delay times between any of the three fuels over the range of temperatures studied. High-temperature correlations were developed to accurately predict the ignition delay times of the three fuels. The experimental measurements for Jet-A and DF-2 were modeled using several chemical kinetics mechanisms utilizing different surrogate mixtures. To the authors’ knowledge, this study presents the first gas-phase ignition delay time measurements for RP-1. In addition, the data presented herein expand the archival data of Jet-A and DF-2 to a broader range of conditions.