Detonation properties of stoichiometric n-heptane/oxygen/argon mixtures

A study of detonation velocity and cellular structure for stoichiometric heptane/oxygen and for some stoichiometric heptane/oxygen/argon mixtures was conducted in a shock tube at low initial pressure. The critical conditions for the detonation onset and for the propagation of self-sustained detonation wave were determined. A simplified form of Zel'dovich-von Neumann-Düring (ZND) model used in conjunction with a validated detailed kinetic model led to the determination of the proportionality factor, A, between the detonation cell width and the induction distance in the detonation wave. This A factor was of practical importance to estimate the detonation properties of n-heptane based mixtures including n-heptane/air. The cell sizes predicted according to this detonation model are underestimated by a factor about 8. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 30th International Symposium on Combustion (Chicago, IL 7/25-30/2004).