Natural gas is the primary fuel used in industrial gas turbines for power generation. Hydrocarbon blends of methane, ethane, and propane make up a large portion of natural gas and it has been shown that dimethyl ether can be used as a supplement or in its pure form for gas turbine combustion. Because of this, a fundamental understanding of the physical characteristics such as the laminar flame speed is necessary, especially at elevated pressures to have the most relevance to the gas turbine industry. This thesis discusses the equations governing premixed laminar flames, historical methods used to measure the laminar flame speed, the experimental device used in this study, the procedure for converting the measured data into the flame speed, the results of the measurements, and a discussion of the results. The results presented in this thesis include the flame speeds for binary blends of methane, ethane, propane, and dimethyl ether performed at elevated pressures, up to 10-atm initial pressure, using a spherically expanding flame in a constant-volume vessel. Also included in this thesis is a comparison between the experimental measurements and four chemical kinetic models. The C4 mechanism, developed in part through collaboration between the National University of Ireland Galway and Texas A&M, was improved using the data presented herein, showing good agreement for all cases. The effect of blending ethane, propane, and dimethyl ether with methane in binary form is emphasized in this study, with the resulting Markstein length, Lewis number (Le), and flame stability characterized and discussed. It was noticed in this study, as well as in other studies, that the critical radius of the flame typically decreased as the Le decreased, and that the critical radius of the flame increased as the Le increased. Also, a rigorous uncertainty analysis has been performed, showing a range of 0.3 cm/s to 3.5 cm/s depending on equivalence ratio and initial pressure.

Thèse de doctorat : Etudes anglophones : Lyon 2 : 2000. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

Thèse de doctorat : Chimie organique : Strasbourg 1 : 2008. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 105-110.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2009. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-126). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-232). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-232). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duquesne University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 1998. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-176).