N-Pentanol has emerged as a promising substitute for fossil fuels due to its potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This work presents a reduced combustion mechanism for modeling high-temperature ignition (T > 1000 K) and flames for n-pentanol/air mixtures. The model comprises only 64 species and 282 chemical reactions. As we know, this is the first comprehensive study to include all available experimental data for these phenomena and this specific fuel/oxidizer mixture, reported in the literature. Our approach involves coupling a detailed submechanism for n-pentanol to the San Diego mechanism, a reduced scheme for C-1-C-4 hydrocarbons, followed by a systematic reduction process, mainly using sensitivity analysis and steady-state approximation. We quantitatively assessed the agreement between experimental data and simulation results using deviation or error indicators along with graphical comparisons. Remarkably, the ignition delay times and flame speeds calculated using the reduced kinetic model exhibit a high agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature.

N-pentanol is a viable biofuel due to its capability to reduce pollutant emissions and its compatibility with both conventional internal combustion engines and advanced combustion strategies such as low-temperature combustion (LTC). This work presents a reduced kinetic mechanism for n-pentanol combustion, consisting of 66 species and 292 reactions, capable of modeling high- and low-temperature ignition, flame propagation, and heat release dynamics. The mechanism was developed using a validated methodology that integrates an n-pentanol submechanism into the San Diego base mechanism and applies a systematic reduction approach, including sensitivity analysis and steady-state approximation criteria. The reduced model accurately captures key combustion features, including negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior and low-temperature heat release in the 600–1000 K range. Validation against experimental data, such as ignition delay times, laminar flame speeds, and speciation measurements in a jet-stirred reactor, demonstrates high predictive capability across a wide range of conditions. A key contribution of this work is the introduction of a mathematical model to estimate the maximum temperature attained under low-temperature conditions, offering new insights into the heat release mechanisms that govern the thermal transition in this regime and their role in shaping the NTC phenomenon.

N-pentanol emerges as a promising substitute for fossil fuel due to its potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This work presents a reduced combustion mechanism for modeling high-temperature ignition (T>1000 K) and flames for n-pentanol/air mixtures. The model comprises only 64 species and 282 chemical reactions. As we know, this is the first comprehensive study to include all available experimental data for these phenomena and this specific fuel/oxidizer mixture, reported in the literature. Our approach involves coupling a detailed sub-mechanism for n-pentanol to the San Diego mechanism, a reduced scheme for C1-C4 hydrocarbons, followed by systematic reduction using sensitivity analysis and steady-state approximation. We quantitatively assessed the agreement between experimental data and simulation results using deviation or error indicators, along with graphical comparisons. Remarkably, the ignition delay times, and flame speeds calculated using the reduced kinetic model exhibit a high agreement regarding the experimental data reported in the literature.