A Rapid Compression Study of the Butanol Isomers at Elevated Pressure

Investigation of the autoignition delay of the butanol isomers has been performed at elevated pressure of 15 bar and low to intermediate temperatures of 725-870 K. Stoichiometric mixtures made in nitrogen/oxygen air were studied. For the temperature and pressure conditions in this study, no NTC or two-stage ignition behavior were observed. The reactivity of the isomers of butanol, in terms of inverse ignition delay, was ranked as n-butanol > sec-butanol ~ iso-butanol > tert-butanol. Predictions of the ignition delay by several kinetic mechanisms available in the literature generally over-predict the ignition delays.