Air-methane mixture ignition with Multi-Walled Carbon NanoTubes (MWCNTs) and comparison with spark ignition

This paper presents the potentialities of a new ignition system based on exposition. of multi-walled carbon nanotubes containing 75% in weight of ferrocene to a low-consumption flash camera. The experiments were performed in a constant-volume chamber equipped with an optical access, to allow the acquisition of high-speed camera images, and with a piezoresistive pressure sensor. The chamber was filled with an. air-methane gaseous mixture and its combustion was triggered by flashing the nanotubes. The resulting combustion. process was compared with the one obtained triggering the mixture ignition with a. traditional spark plug. The combustion process was characterized for different air-methane ratios. The results show that the ignition with nanotubes determines a. higher combustion pressure gradient and a higher peak pressure than spark ignition for all the tested air-methane ratios. Furthermore, high-speed camera images show that the ignition with nanotubes leads to a. more distributed homogeneous-like combustion and then a. faster consumption of the air-methane mixture without the formation of a discernible flame front. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.