Inhibition of methane–oxygen flames by organophosphorus compounds

For CH$_4$/O$_2$ flames doped with trimethyl phosphate (TMP), the flame structure is examined and the velocity of flame propagation is determined with the aim of studying the mechanism of inhibition of flames doped with organophosphorus compounds. The structure of a methane–oxygen flame doped with TMP stabilized on a flat burner at a pressure of 1 atm was studied. The dependence of flame propagation velocity on the concentration of TMP is measured using a Mache–Hebra burner to determine the effectiveness of a number of MP as a flame inhibitor. The mechanism of destruction of TMP in flames was used to model the flame structure and calculate the velocities of propagation of a methane–air flame as functions of the initial concentration of TMP. Calculation and experimental results are compared.