Butanol, an alcohol which can be produced from biomass sources, has received recent interest as an alternative to gasoline for use in spark ignition engines and as a possible blending compound with fossil diesel or biodiesel. Therefore, the autoignit
ion of the four isomers of butanol (1-butanol, 2-butanol, iso-butanol, and tert-butanol) has been experimentally studied at high temperatures in a shock tube and a kinetic mechanism for description of their high-temperature oxidation has been developed. Ignition delay times for butanol/oxygen/argon mixtures have been measured behind reflected shock waves at temperatures and pressures ranging from approximately 1200 to 1800 K and 1 to 4 bar. Electronically excited OH emission and pressure measurements were used to determine ignition delay times. A detailed kinetic mechanism has been developed to describe the oxidation of the butanol isomers and validated by comparison to the shock tube measurements. Reaction flux and sensitivity analysis indicate that the consumption of 1 butanol and iso-butanol, the most reactive isomers, takes place primarily by H-atom abstraction resulting in the formation of radicals, the decomposition of which yields highly reactive branching agents, H-atoms and OH radicals. Conversely, the consumption of tert butanol and 2-butanol, the least reactive isomers, takes place primarily via dehydration, resulting in the formation of alkenes, which lead to resonance stabilized radicals with very low reactivity. To our knowledge, the ignition delay measurements and oxidation mechanism presented here for 2-butanol, iso-butanol, and tert butanol are the first of their kind..
This paper presents an experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of large linear akanes (from C10) representative from diesel fuel from low to intermediate temperature (550-1100 K) including the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) zone. The
experimental study has been performed in a jet-stirred reactor at atmospheric pressure for n-decane and a n-decane/n-hexadecane blend. Detailed kinetic mechanisms have been developed using computer-aided generation (EXGAS) with improved rules for writing reactions of primary products. These mechanisms have allowed a correct simulation of the experimental results obtained. Data from the literature for the oxidation of n-decane, in a jet-stirred reactor at 10 bar and in shock tubes, and of n-dodecane in a pressurized flow reactor have also been correctly modeled. A considerable improvement of the prediction of the formation of products is obtained compared to our previous models. Flow rates and sensitivity analyses have been performed in order to better understand the influence of reactions of primary products. A modeling comparison between linear alkanes for C8 to C16 in terms of ignition delay times and the formation of light products is also discussed.
In line with the studies presented in the parts I and II of this paper, the structure of a laminar rich premixed methane flame doped with cyclopentene has been investigated. The gases of this flame contains 15.3% (molar) of methane, 26.7% of oxygen a
nd 2.4% cyclopentene corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 1.79 and a ratio C5H8 / CH4 of 16 %. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa using argon as dilutant, with a gas velocity at the burner of 36 cm/s at 333 K. The temperature ranged from 627 K close to the burner up to 2027 K. Quantified species included usual methane C0-C2 combustion products, but also propyne, allene, propene, propane, 1-butene, 1,3-butadiene, 1,2-butadiene, vinylacetylene, diacetylene, cyclopentadiene, 1,3-pentadiene, benzene and toluene. A new mechanism for the oxidation of cyclopentene has been proposed. The main reaction pathways of consumption of cyclopentene and of formation of benzene and toluene have been derived from flow rate analyses.
In line with the study presented in the part I of this paper, the structure of a laminar rich premixed methane flame doped with 1,3-butadiene has been investigated. The flame contains 20.7% (molar) of methane, 31.4% of oxygen and 3.3% of 1,3-butadien
e, corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 1.8, and a ratio C4H6 / CH4 of 16 %. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa using argon as dilutant, with a gas velocity at the burner of 36 cm/s at 333 K. The temperature ranged from 600 K close to the burner up to 2150 K. Quantified species included usual methane C0-C2 combustion products and 1,3-butadiene, but also propyne, allene, propene, propane, 1,2-butadiene, butynes, vinylacetylene, diacetylene, 1,3-pentadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (isoprene), 1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-butene, benzene and toluene. In order to model these new results, some improvements have been made to a mechanism previously developed in our laboratory for the reactions of C3-C4 unsaturated hydrocarbons. The main reaction pathways of consumption of 1,3-butadiene and of formation of C6 aromatic species have been derived from flow rate analyses. In this case, the C4 route to benzene formation plays an important role in comparison to the C3 pathway.
The structure of a laminar rich premixed 1,3-C4H6/CH4/O2/Ar flame have been investigated. 1,3-Butadiene, methane, oxygen and argon mole fractions are 0.033; 0.2073; 0.3315, and 0.4280, respectively, for an equivalent ratio of 1.80. The flame has been
stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa (50 Torr). The concentration profiles of stable species were measured by gas chromatography after sampling with a quartz probe. Quantified species included carbon monoxide and dioxide, methane, oxygen, hydrogen, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propyne, allene, propene, cyclopropane, 1,3-butadiene, butenes, 1-butyne, vinylacetylene, diacetylene, C5 compounds, benzene, and toluene. The temperature was measured thanks to a thermocouple in PtRh (6%)-PtRh (30%) settled inside the enclosure and ranged from 900 K close to the burner up to 2100 K.
This paper describes how automatically generated detailed kinetic mechanisms are obtained for the oxidation of alkanes and how these models could lead to a better understanding of autoignition and cool flame risks at elevated conditions. Examples of
prediction of the occurrence of different autoignition phenomena, such as cool flames or two-stage ignitions are presented depending on the condition of pressure, temperature and mixture composition. Three compounds are treated, a light alkane, propane, and two heavier ones, n-heptane and n-decane.
This paper presents a modeling study of the oxidation of cyclohexane from low to intermediate temperature (650-1050 K), including the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) zone. A detailed kinetic mechanism has been developed using computer-aided ge
neration. This comprehensive low-temperature mechanism involves 513 species and 2446 reactions and includes two additions of cyclohexyl radicals to oxygen, as well as subsequent reactions. The rate constants of the reactions involving the formation of bicyclic species (isomerizations, formation of cyclic ethers) have been evaluated from literature data. This mechanism is able to satisfactorily reproduce experimental results obtained in a rapid-compression machine for temperatures ranging from 650 to 900 K and in a jet-stirred reactor from 750 to 1050 K. Flow-rate analyses have been performed at low and intermediate temperatures.
The prediction of auto-ignition delay times in HCCI engines has risen interest on detailed chemical models. This paper described a validated kinetic mechanism for the oxidation of a model Diesel fuel (n-decane and α-methylnaphthalene). The 3D mo
del for the description of low and high temperature auto-ignition in engines is presented. The behavior of the model fuel is compared with that of n-heptane. Simulations show that the 3D model coupled with the kinetic mechanism can reproduce experimental HCCI and Diesel engine results and that the correct modeling of auto-ignition in the cool flame region is essential in HCCI conditions.
Ignition delay times of cyclohexane-oxygen-argon and cyclopentane-oxygen-argon mixtures have been measured in a shock tube, the onset of ignition being detected by OH radical emission. Mixtures contained 0.5 or 1 % of hydrocarbon for equivalence rati
os ranging from 0.5 to 2. Reflected shock waves allowed temperatures from 1230 to 1800 K and pressures from 7.3 to 9.5 atm to be obtained. These measurements have shown that cyclopentane is much less reactive than cyclohexane, as for a given temperature the observed autoignition delay times were about ten times higher for the C5 compound compared to the C6. Detailed mechanisms for the combustion of cyclohexane and cyclopentane have been proposed to reproduce these results. The elementary steps included in the kinetic models of the oxidation of cyclanes are close to those proposed to describe the oxidation of acyclic alkanes and alkenes. Consequently, it has been possible to obtain these models by using an improved version of software EXGAS, a computer package developed to perform the automatic generation of detailed kinetic models for the gas-phase oxidation and combustion of linear and branched alkanes and alkenes. Nevertheless, the modelling of the oxidation of cyclanes requires to consider new types of generic reactions, and especially to define new correlations for the estimation of the rate constants. Ab initio calculations have been used to better know some of the rate constants used in the case of cyclopentane. The main reaction pathways have been derived from flow rate and sensitivity analyses.
This work reports a theoretical study of the gas phase unimolecular decomposition of cyclobutane, cyclopentane and cyclohexane by means of quantum chemical calculations. A biradical mechanism has been envisaged for each cycloalkane, and the main rout
es for the decomposition of the biradicals formed have been investigated at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. Thermochemical data (delta H^0_f, S^0, C^0_p) for all the involved species have been obtained by means of isodesmic reactions. The contribution of hindered rotors has also been included. Activation barriers of each reaction have been analyzed to assess the 1 energetically most favorable pathways for the decomposition of biradicals. Rate constants have been derived for all elementary reactions using transition state theory at 1 atm and temperatures ranging from 600 to 2000 K. Global rate constant for the decomposition of the cyclic alkanes in molecular products have been calculated. Comparison between calculated and experimental results allowed to validate the theoretical approach. An important result is that the rotational barriers between the conformers, which are usually neglected, are of importance in decomposition rate of the largest biradicals. Ring strain energies (RSE) in transition states for ring opening have been estimated and show that the main part of RSE contained in the cyclic reactants is removed upon the activation process.
