Temperature-dependent feature sensitivity analysis for combustion modeling

Abstract

Sensitivity analysis is one of the most widely used tools in kinetic modeling. Typically, it is performed by perturbing the A-factors of the individual reaction rate coefficients and monitoring the effect of these perturbations on the observables of interest. However, the sensitivity coefficients obtained in this manner do not contain direct information on possible temperature-dependent effects. Yet, in many combustion processes, especially in premixed flames, the system undergoes substantial temperature changes, and the relative importance of individual reaction rates may vary significantly within the flame. An extension of conventional sensitivity analysis developed in the present work provides the means of identifying the temperatures at which individual reaction rate coefficients are most important as a function of input parameters and specific experimental conditions. The obtained information is demonstrated to be of critical relevance in optimizing complex reaction schemes against multiple experimental targets. Applications of the presented approach are not limited to sensitivities with respect to reaction rate coefficients; the method can be used for any temperature-dependent property of interest (such as binary diffusion coefficients). This application is also demonstrated in this paper. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 282–295, 2005