Application of the Maximum Entropy Principle in the Analysis of a Non-Equilibrium Chemically Reacting Mixture

Authors : Sergio Ugarte, Yue Gao, Hameed Metghalchi

Pages : 43-53

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Publication Date : 2005-03-01

Article Type : Other

Abstract :The Maximum Entropy Principle has been used to model complex chemical reaction processes. The maximum entropy principle has been employed by the Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium (RCCE) method to determine concentration of different species during non-equilibrium combustion process. In this model, it is assumed that the system evolves through constrained equilibrium states where entropy of the mixture is maximized subject to constraints. Mixture composition is determined by integrating set of differential equations of constraints rather than integration of differential equations for species as is done with detailed kinetics techniques. Since the number of constraints is much smaller than the number of species present, the number of rate equations required to describe the time evolution of the system is considerably reduced. This method has been used to model the stoichiometric mixture of the formaldehyde-oxygen combustion process. In this study 29 species and 139 reactions has been used, while keeping the energy and volume of the system constant. Calculations have been done at different sets of pressures and temperatures, ranging from 1 atm to 100 atm, and from 900 K to 1500 K respectively. Three fixed elemental constraints: conservation of elemental carbon, elemental oxygen and elemental hydrogen and from one to six variable constraints were used. The four to nine rate equations for the constraint potentials (Lagrange multipliers conjugate to the constraints) were integrated and as expected, RCCE calculations gave correct equilibrium values in all cases. Only 8 constraints were required to give very good agreement with detailed calculations. Ignition delay times and major species concentrations were within 0.5% to 5% of the values predicted by detailed chemistry calculations. Adding more constraints improved the accuracy of the mole fractions of minor species at early times, but had only a little effect on the ignition delay times. Rate-Controlled Constrained-Equilibrium calculations reduced the computation time by 50% when using eight constraints.
Keywords : maximum entropy principle, combustion modeling, formaldehyde oxidation, ignition delay, rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium