Evaluation of lower flammability limits of fuel–air–diluent mixtures using calculated adiabatic flame temperatures

The lower flammability limit (LFL) of a fuel is the minimum composition in air over which a flame can propagate. Calculated adiabatic flame temperatures (CAFT) are a powerful tool to estimate the LFL of gas mixtures. Different CAFT values are used for the estimation of LFL. SuperChems™ is used by industry to perform flammability calculations under different initial conditions which depends on the selection of a threshold temperature. In this work, the CAFT at the LFL is suggested for mixtures of fuel–air and fuel–air–diluents. These CAFT can be used as the threshold values in SuperChems™ to calculate the LFL. This paper discusses an approach to evaluate the LFL in the presence of diluents such as N2 and CO2 by an algebraic method and by the application of SuperChems™ using CAFT as the basis of the calculations. The CAFT for different paraffinic and unsaturated hydrocarbons are presented as well as an average value per family of chemicals.