Numerical optimisation for the evaluation of combustion kinetic models

Four optimisation methods have been chosen and implemented for optimising kinetic parameters with respect to a set of experimental data. They were first successfully validated via specifically tailored minimisation problems where kinetic coefficients had been varied so as to produce discrepancies with the initial predictions of the GRI (Gas Research Institute) mechanism 3.0. Three of them could retrieve an almost perfect agreement whereas the fourth approach found a slightly sub-optimal solution. Afterwards, a set of CH3-O-2 and C2H6-O-2 oxidation experiments inconsistent with the initial values of GRI 3.0 were considered. It could be shown that the parameters of the most sensitive reactions could not be optimised under reasonable limits, thereby indicating that these experiments are probably not predictable by GRI 3.0. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licensestby-nc-nd40/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Engineering Department, Lancaster University