Combustion chemistry of ternary fuel mixtures of hydrogen and C$_1$–C$_4$ hydrocarbons at atmospheric pressure

Interest in the combustion chemistry of multi-fuel mixtures is related to the need to study the combustion of natural gas, which is known to be a mixture of alkanes. It has been found by molecular beam mass spectrometry studies and numerical simulation that the width of the zones of consumption of hydrogen and methane in the H$_2$/CH$_4$/C$_3$H$_8$/O$_2$/Ar flame and the width of the zones of consumption of methane and propane in the CH$_4$/C$_3$H$_8$/C$_4$H$_{10}$/O$_2$/Ar flame differ significantly from each other. The causes of this phenomenon were determined by analyzing the simulation results. It has been found that in the presence of heavier compounds, lighter fuels, such as H$_2$ and CH$_4$, are formed which reduces the rate of their consumption and, hence expands the zone of their consumption in the flame. The influence of the presence of hydrogen in the fuel mixture on the concentration of C$_2$ hydrocarbons has also been studied. It has been established that the addition of hydrogen reduces the maximum concentration of ethane, ethylene, and acetylene in the flame, while the fraction of unsaturated C$_2$ hydrocarbons with respect to saturated ones also decreases.