Experimental study on the laminar flame speed of hydrogen/carbon monoxide/air mixtures

Carbon monoxide and hydrogen are two important components in the syngas. In this study, the laminar flame speed of hydrogen/carbon monoxide fuel mixtures is measured over a large range of fuel compositions (0–100% volume fraction for hydrogen in the mixture) by using a Bunsen burner. The reaction zone area is used to calculate the laminar flame speed. The equivalence ratio covers from lean conditions to rich conditions. The experimental results show that by using the Bunsen flame, the laminar flame speed calculated with the reaction zone area is reliable. Based on the experimental results, empirical equations are derived which can be readily employed to calculate the laminar flame speeds of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen/carbon monoxide mixtures.