Kinetic mechanisms for premixed, laminar, steady state methane/air flames

A number of kinetic schemes have been used to model premixed, laminar, one-dimensional methane/air flames. Seven such kinetic schemes, including two new models, are compared with one another and with experimental data. The two new models, one with 14 species and one with 20 species, both agree with the experimental data over a range of stoichiometries from lean to rich. All of the models show good agreement for lean to slightly rich flames. This does not validate any of the models, even for this limited range. Rather, it is shown that the quantities measured are fairly insensitive to much of the mechanism. Therefore, models with incorrect kinetics can agree with the experimental data. In particular, the contribution of the C 2 species to methane combustion is examined. While these species are important, we conclude that there is insufficient information to determine quantitatively the effects of the C 2 chemistry reactions.