Utilizing exhaust gas heat for on-board alcohol reforming (thermo-chemical recuperation TCR) to produce a hydrogen rich gas is a promising way for increasing internal combustion engine efficiency and mitigate vehicles emission. This will combine the distribution and storage advantages of liquid fuels with the outstanding combustion properties of hydrogen. Knowledge of the laminar burning velocity of alcohol reforming products is necessary for simulating the performance of an internal combustion engine with TCR and for in-depth studies of the combustion process. Laminar burning velocities of H2, CO, CO2 and CH4 mixtures that simulate methanol and ethanol steam reforming products for various water-alcohol ratios are measured in this work. Influence of the flame cellularity on burning velocity is studied as well. A combustion vessel was especially designed for this purpose to investigate spherical deflagrating flames. The flame propagation was filmed by high-speed Schlieren photography. Pressure increase was monitored as well. Consequently, the laminar burning velocity was determined. The latter was mapped as a function of CO and CH4 selectivity’s of the reforming process as well as for various air-excess factors ranging from λ=1 to λ=1.9. Maximal burning velocities up to 140cm/sec were observed for mixtures produced from the reforming processes with zero CH4 selectivity. While the increase in CO selectivity contributed only to a very weak decrease in burning velocity, increase in CH4 selectivity affected the latter strongly. Flame cellularity which increased the burning velocity was found to occur earlier in mixtures with higher hydrogen content and at higher air-excess factors.
