Direct observations of reaction zone structure in shock-induced ignition of methane air mixture

Ignition of methane/air mixture by the passage of a shock wave is an important issue for understanding more details of its gaseous detonation. The experiments of shock-induced ignition of stoichiometric methane/air mixture were conducted on a shock tube platform. The reaction zone structure in weak and strong ignition cases were investigated by digital chemiluminescence imaging and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) techniques. Due to smaller gradients in induced time in weak ignition, which provided more time to nonlinear chemical reaction process, the results show that the reaction structures are highly nonuniform in those weak ignition cases, which become more regular while induced shock waves become stronger. In strong ignition case, it gives a typical detonation structure. The characteristics of reaction zone released by single-pulsed OH PLIF technique agreed well with other experimental measurements in this paper and were also in accord with the conclusions of previous researches. The successful implementation of the PLIF system has explored a new high temporally and spatially resolved method for the study of interaction between shock wave and gaseous matter in shock tube. Supported by the National High Technology R & D Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA05Z210) and Graduated Student Research Foundation of Chinese Acdemy Science