Additional Questions Regarding the Auto-Ignition Temperature I had some followup questions regarding a previous post I made here regarding the auto-ignition temperature and ASTM E659


For fuel temperature below AIT, we should still have finite reactants above activation energy, reacting, and heating the remaining mixture so additional reactants are above the activation energy. Theoretically as $t \rightarrow \infty$, could the fuel burn itself out like this, regardless of what temperature it is at (obviously the rate will be very different)? If so, is there an implicit rate requirement in defining the AIT that the above chain reaction process has to happen within a short duration?
Given that ignition is defined as when a flash and temperature rise is seen, does this mean that the actual quantity of fuel burnt is unimportant and it is assumed that a significant enough amount is used?  
Is the reason for using an open flask in ASTM E659 likely just for simplicity, as opposed to a piston-cylinder arrangement that offers more control over air-fuel mixture?
To understand the answer to (1), you have to think about what combustion actually is. It isn't a single reaction, with a single set of reactants, and a single set of products. It's actually a whole bunch of tiny steps (thousands) that all occur together. Those reactions happen among a whole bunch of unstable radical species (hundreds). When you put a match to a pool of gasoline, all that energy from the match starts tearing apart bonds in the fuel, leading to the formation of radicals. That's what triggers the initial release of energy, and what creates the cascade of ignition. So theoretically, no, you could never reach combustion products, through the pathway of combustion, because you'd never have that activation energy, the big kick of energy needed to create radicals and keep them alive long enough for them to create a chain reaction.

The answer to (2) is, no, it doesn't matter how much fuel. Remember you're measuring a mass-independent property. The autoginition temperature isn't "5 degrees per gram". It's a single temperature. What matters is the ratio of oxygen to fuel.

As to (3), it's a lot easier to operate an open flask than it is to operate a piston-cylinder, and it doesn't have a substantial impact on the air-fuel ratio if you do it correctly.