Identification, Correction, and Comparisonof Detailed Kinetic Models

In recent decades, detailed kinetic models have become integral to combustion research. Progress has been significant and the latest models can explain many complicated combustion phenomena, and allow increasingly accurate engine simulations. These models can be very large (eg. the LLNL model for 2-methylalkanes has over 7,000 species and 30,000 reactions [1]) and there are now dozens of large published models. Unfortunately, these ever-proliferating detailed kinetic models are incompatible and inconsistent, are seldom compared directly, and often contain undetected mistakes. We hear these days that it’s possible to achieve errors a low as 1 kJ/mol in energy and 30% in rate constants, yet in many published and trusted models these parameters can differ by 100 kJ/mol and 30 orders of magnitude respectively.