Exploring the low-temperature oxidation chemistry of 1-butene and i-butene triggered by dimethyl ether

In order to better understand the low-temperature oxidation chemistry of alkenes, 1-butene and i-butene oxidation experiments triggered by dimethyl ether (DME) were conducted in a jet-stirred reactor at 790 Torr, 500–725 K and the equivalence ratio of 0.35. Low-temperature oxidation intermediates involved in alcoholic radical chemistry and allylic radical chemistry were detected by using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry (SVUV-PIMS). To better interpret the experimental data, a kinetic model was proposed based on our low-temperature oxidation model of DME and comprehensive oxidation models of 1-butene and i-butene in literature. Based on present experimental results and modeling analysis, alcoholic radical chemistry initiated by OH addition is mainly responsible for the low-temperature chain propagation of butenes, since the Waddington mechanism plays a dominant role compared with the chain-branching pathways through the second O₂ addition. Allylic radical+HO₂ reactions producing alkenyl hydroperoxides and fuel+O₂ serve as the major chain-branching and chain-termination pathways, respectively, and they are competitive in the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) region. In contrast, chain-branching pathways originating from allylic radical+O₂ and alkyl-like radical+O₂ reactions have little contribution to the OH formation. Comparison with the simulation results of butane/DME mixtures demonstrates that butenes can largely inhibit the reactivity of DME at low temperatures due to its reduced low-temperature chain-branching process. However, in the NTC region, butenes may not be good OH absorbents since the allylic radicals can convert HO₂ to OH and consequently enhance the oxidation reactivity.     

Probing the fuel-specific intermediates in the low-temperature oxidation of 1-heptene and modeling interpretation

In this work, low temperature (low-T) oxidation of 1-heptene was investigated in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) over the temperatures of 450–800 K, 770 Torr and equivalence ratios of 0.5–2.0. The intermediates were identified and quantified using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry (SVUV-PIMS) and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The SVUV-PIMS experiment combined with quantum chemistry calculation of ionization energy enables the identification of fuel-specific intermediates, including C₇ alkenylperoxy radical and hydroperoxides, such as diolefinic-hydroperoxide, alkenylhydroperoxide, alkenyl-ketohydroperoxide and cyclic ether hydroperoxide. Among them, alkenylperoxy radical, diolefinic-hydroperoxide and cyclic ether hydroperoxide have not been detected in alkene oxidation before. In order to accurately identify and quantify other fuel-specific intermediates such as aldehyde and cyclic ether isomers, the GC–MS experiment was conducted under the same conditions as the SVUV-PIMS experiment. On the other hand, a detailed low-T oxidation model of 1-heptene was developed, which can reasonably capture the fuel oxidation rate and negative temperature coefficient behaviors observed in this work. The present model can not only interpret the formation of different kinds of hydroperoxides and predict their temperature windows, but also capture the formation of 2-heptenal, hexanal and heptanal, and branched tetrahydrofurans, which are derived from the H-abstraction by OH, OH addition and H addition reactions of 1-heptene, respectively, revealing that the competition between these reactions can be well characterized.     

Low- and high-temperature study of n-heptane combustion chemistry

n-Heptane has been used extensively in various fundamental combustion experiments as a prototypical hydrocarbon fuel. While the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) in n-heptane combustion has been studied preferably in premixed flames, this study aims to investigate the combustion chemistry of n-heptane in less-studied diffusion flame and highly rich high-temperature homogeneous oxidation configurations by using a counterflow burner and a flow reactor, respectively. This work addresses the formation of higher-molecular species in the mass range up to about 160 u in both configurations. Samples are analyzed by time-of-flight (TOF) molecular beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) using electron-impact (EI) and single-photon ionization (PI). Highly resolved speciation data are reported. Laminar flow reactor experiments cover a wide temperature range. Especially the measurements at low temperatures provide speciation data of large oxygenates produced in the low-temperature oxidation of n-heptane, which are scarce in the literature. Important precursor molecules for PAH and soot formation, such as C₉H₈, C₁₀H₈, C₁₁H_10, and C₁₂H₈, are formed during the high-temperature combustion process in the counterflow flame, while oxygenated growth species are observed under low-temperature conditions, even at the fuel-rich equivalence ratio of ?=4.00.Numerical modeling for both conditions is performed by using a newly developed kinetic model of n-heptane, which includes the n-heptane and PAH formation chemistry with state-of-the-art kinetic knowledge. Good agreement between model predictions and experimental data of counterflow flame and flow reactor is observed for the major species and some intermediates of n-heptane oxidation. While the concentrations of benzene and toluene measured in the counterflow burner are well-reproduced, the numerical results for flow reactor data are not satisfactory. Differences are found between the formation pathways of fulvene, from whose isomerization benzene is produced in diffusion flame and flow reactor.     

Isomer-specific speciation behaviors probed from premixed flames fueled by acetone and propanal

Chemical structures of low-pressure premixed flames respectively fueled by two C₃ carbonyl isomers, acetone and propanal, at different equivalence ratios (1.0 and 1.5) were experimentally investigated in this work. Detailed speciation information was obtained by employing molecular-beam mass spectrometry with tunable synchrotron photoionization. A detailed kinetic model including the chemistry of acetone and propanal was developed and tested with the current flame speciation measurements. By combining experimental observations and modeling interpretations, comparisons were made regarding fuel-specific reaction pathways and the resulting different species pools. Some fuel-specific intermediates were detected and quantified in this work, such as ketene in acetone flames and methylketene in propanal flames. Particularly, the quantitative speciation measurements of ketene, an important primary intermediate of acetone, were satisfactorily predicted by the current model, which included an updated ketene sub-mechanism. Major efforts in this work were devoted to gaining some insights into the effects of the carbonyl position in fuel molecules on the speciation behaviors under premixed flame conditions. Carbonyl functionalities in the two C₃ carbonyl compounds are tightly bonded and preferably preserved in CO. Due to the different position of the CO bond in the two isomers, the oxidation of propanal leads to abundant ethyl as a chain carrier, while the acetone consumption easily results in a significant amount of methyl, an inhibitor on the fuel reactivity. As a result, higher reactivity of propanal was observed. More importantly, the different fuel consumption patterns also influence the speciation behaviors. Specifically, the larger concentration of benzene precursors such as allyl, was observed in the propanal flames. Besides, typical oxygenated emissions formaldehyde and acetaldehyde had more remarkable concentrations in acetone and propanal flames, respectively.     

An experimental laminar flame investigation of dual-fuel mixtures of C4 methyl esters with C2–C4 hydrocarbon base fuels

Blending petroleum-based fuels with biofuel components is deemed attractive to reduce soot and CO₂ emissions, but fundamental studies of the combustion behavior of such fuel blends suited for model development and validation remain rather scarce. To contribute to the understanding of the combustion chemistry effects of such blending strategies, we have investigated laminar premixed low-pressure flames of three hydrocarbon base fuels, namely 1-butene (1-C₄H₈), isobutene (i-C₄H₈), and ethene (C₂H₄), blended each with two different ester fuels, namely methyl crotonate (C₅H₈O₂, MC) and methyl butanoate (C₅H₁₀O₂, MB). A series of 13 flames with different argon dilution was investigated to study effects of the specific fuel structure on the combustion chemistry. Full speciation analyses were performed for fuel-rich (? = 1.6) conditions by electron ionization molecular-beam mass spectrometry (EI-MBMS). More than 35 species in the range of C₀–C₇ were identified and quantified in these flames, resulting in ～450 mol fraction profiles. The experimental data were compared to simulations by the kinetic model reported by Yang et al. [Proc. Combust. Inst. 2011, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2013] that was chosen because it includes basic mechanisms of all studied fuels. Overall, the agreement of experiment and this model seems satisfactory but calls for further improvements regarding ester as well as hydrocarbon sub-mechanisms. It was noted that the unsaturation degree in the methyl esters affects the formation of hydrocarbons, that depend mainly on the structure of the respective base fuel, and of oxygenated intermediates. The methyl esters have different decomposition pathways leading to some specific oxygenated species. Both methyl esters promote the formation of formaldehyde and methanol, while acetic acid is significantly increased by the presence of MB. The effect of the ester addition is also influenced by the species pool of the respective hydrocarbon base fuel.     

AP/(N2 + C2H2 + C2H4) gaseous fuel diffusion flame studies

Counterflow diffusion flame experiments and modeling results are presented for a fuel mixture consisting of N₂, C₂H₂, and C₂H₄ flowing against decomposition products from a solid AP pellet. The flame zone simulates the diffusion flame structure that is expected to exist between reaction products from AP crystals and a hydrocarbon binder. Quantitative species and temperature profiles have been measured for one strain rate, given by a separation of 5 mm, between the fuel exit and the AP surface. Species measured include C₂H₂, C₂H₄, N₂, CN, NH, OH, CH, C₂, NO, NO₂, O₂, CO₂, H₂, CO, HCl, H₂O, and soot volume fraction. Temperature was measured using a combination of a thermocouple at the fuel exit and other selected locations, spontaneous Raman scattering measurements throughout the flame, NO vibrational populations, and OH rotational population distributions. The burning rate of the AP was also measured for this flame’s strain rate. The measured eighteen scalars are compared with predictions from a detailed gas-phase kinetics model consisting of 105 species and 660 reactions. Model predictions are found to be in good agreement with experiment and illustrate the type of kinetic features that may be expected to occur in propellants when AP particles burn with the decomposition products of a polymeric binder.     

Experimental and kinetic modeling study on auto-ignition properties of ammonia/ethanol blends at intermediate temperatures and high pressures

The auto-ignition properties of ammonia (NH₃)/ethanol (C₂H₅OH) blends close to engine operating conditions were investigated for the first time. Specifically, the ignition delay times (IDT) of ammonia/ethanol blends were measured in a rapid compression machine (RCM) at elevated pressures of 20 and 40 bar, five C₂H₅OH mole fractions from 0% to 100%, three equivalence ratios (ϕ) of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0, and intermediate temperatures between 820 and 1120 K. The measurements reveal that ethanol can drastically promote the reactivity of ammonia, e.g., the auto-ignition temperature with merely 1% C₂H₅OH in fuel decreases accordingly around 110 K at 40 bar as compared to that of neat ammonia. Moreover, the promotion efficiency of ethanol is higher than hydrogen and methane with a factor of 5 and 10 under the same condition. Different dependences of IDT on the equivalence ratio were observed with different ethanol fractions in the blends, i.e., the IDTs of the 5%, 10% and 100% C₂H₅OH in fuel decrease with an increase of ϕ, but an opposite trend was observed in the mixture with 1% C₂H₅OH. A new chemical kinetic mechanism for NH₃/C₂H₅OH mixtures was developed and it is highlighted that the addition of cross-reactions between the two fuels is necessary to obtain reasonable simulations. Basically, the newly developed mechanism can reproduce the measurements of IDT very well, whereas it overestimates the reactivity of the stoichiometric and fuel-rich mixture with 1% C₂H₅OH in fuel. The sensitivity, reaction pathway, as well as rate of production analysis indicated that the ethanol addition to ammonia fuel blends provides key interaction pathways and enriches the O/H radical pool which further promotes the auto-ignition process.     

Experimental and kinetic modeling study of the positive ions in premixed ethylene flames over a range of equivalence ratios

Understanding the ion chemistry in flames is crucial for developing ion sensitive technologies for controlling combustion processes. In this work, we measured the spatial distributions of positive ions in atmospheric-pressure burner-stabilized premixed flames of ethylene/oxygen/argon mixtures in a wide range of equivalence ratios ϕ = 0.4÷1.5. A flame sampling molecular beam system coupled with a quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to obtain the spatial distributions of cations in the flames, and a high mass resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer was utilized for the identification of the cations having similar m/z ratios. The measured profiles of the flame ions were corrected for the contribution of hydrates formed during sampling in the flames slightly upstream the flame reaction zone. We also proposed an updated ion chemistry model and verified it against the experimental profiles of the most abundant cations in the flames. Our model is based on the kinetic mechanism available in the literature extended with the reactions for C₃H₅⁺ cation. Highly accurate W2-F12 quantum chemical calculations were used to obtain a reliable formation enthalpy of C₃H₅⁺. The model was found to reproduce properly the measured relative abundance of the key oxygenated cations (viz., CH₅O⁺, C₂H₃O⁺) in the whole range of equivalence ratios employed, and the C₃H₅⁺ cation abundance in the richest flame with ϕ=1.5, but significantly underpredicts the relative mole fraction of C₃H₃⁺, which becomes a key species under fuel-rich conditions. Apart from this, several aromatic and cyclic C_xH_y cations dominating under fuel-rich conditions were identified. We also considered the most important directions for the further refinement of the mechanism.     

Hidden interactions—Trace species governing combustion and emissions

Concern about pollutant formation and emissions continues to be a driving force for research in combustion chemistry. Important pollutants include nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x), chlorine species, unburned or partly burned fuel components (e.g., UHC, aldehydes, CO), aromatic and polycyclic aromatic compounds, and aerosols (soot, alkaline aerosols). In this review, it is discussed how N, S, Cl, and K/Na species, typically present in small quantities, may affect the overall combustion process, as well as the formation or transformation of each other. Of special interest is their ability to sensitize or inhibit oxidation of fuel and CO, depending on the reaction conditions; the impact of S, Cl and K/Na on formation of NO_x, PAH, and soot; and the interaction of sulfur, chlorine and alkali species, which may have significant implications for emissions of SO₂, HCl, and aerosols.     

Characterization of the low-temperature oxidation chemistry of an unsaturated aldehyde 2-butenal in a Jet-stirred reactor

Unsaturated aldehydes such as butenal are essential intermediates in the combustion of various alkenes and oxygenated biofuels. 2-Butenal is a typical intermediate included in the core mechanism, containing a C=C double bond adjacent to an aldehyde group. In the present work, the oxidation of 2-butenal is studied in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) at atmospheric pressure under temperature ranging from 500 to 850 K. The synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry is employed to identify the key intermediates. A kinetic model for 2-butenal oxidation is developed and validated against the experimental datasets. Fuel flux and sensitivity analyses are performed to clarify reactions governing the reactivity of 2-butenal. OH addition to the C=C double bond is essential for fuel reactivity at the initial stage. A combination of experimental observations and kinetic simulations is used to illuminate the Waddington mechanism initiated by OH addition. The resonance-stabilized feature of fuel radicals facilitates their interactions with HO₂ radicals, which replenishes a large amount of OH radicals and contributes to the formation of CO₂.     

Template assisted formation of micro- and nanotubular carbon nitride materials

Micro- and nanotubes of an amorphous carbon nitride material were synthesized by metathesis reactions between cyanuric chloride (C₃N₃Cl₃) and different nitrogen sources, such as Li₂(CN₂) or Li₃(BN₂). The intermediate formation of needle-shaped crystals of N(C₃N₃Cl₂)₃ was always observed in our reactions, and investigated with respect to their role as a template in the formation of tubes. Chemical analyses of the micro- and nanotubes reveal carbon to nitrogen ratios near 3:4, consistent with the suspected material C₃N₄. Synthesized carbon nitride materials were thermally stable up to 600 ^°C in inert atmosphere. They were inspected by a number of physical measurements, mainly using TEM, EDX and IR investigations.     

Formation and dispersion of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> after combustion in closed area

This study deals with the formation of carbon dioxide (CO₂) after combustion process and dispersion in a closed area. The formation and dispersion of CO₂ were numerically simulated and validated by experiment. Ethanol (C₂H₅OH) was chosen as a fuel for the combustion process. Numerical simulations were carried out by using Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach with k-ε and k-ω turbulent models. The combustion process was simulated using two methods. Species transport with chemical reactions was the first method, and the second method was the nonpremix combustion model based on the mixture fraction theory. There were done some sensitivity studies on the influence of the time step size and a resolution of computational grid. Results from numerical simulations were validated by experimental measurements, where the CO₂ concentration was measured by the non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor at four points.     

Unimolecular reactions of the resonance-stabilized cyclopentadienyl radicals and their role in the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation

Resonance-stabilized cyclopentadienyl radicals are important intermediate species in the combustion of transportation fuels. It not only serves as precursors for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation, but also involves in the formation of fundamental PAH precursors such as propargyl and acetylene. In this work, the unimolecular reactions of the cyclopentadienyl radicals are theoretically studied based on high-level quantum chemistry and RRKM/master equation calculations. Stationary points on the potential energy surface (PES) are calculated at the CCSD(T)/CBS//M06–2X/6–311++(d,p) level of theory. The branching ratios of unimolecular reactions of the cyclopentadienyl radicals are analyzed for a broad temperature range from 500 to 2500 K and pressures from 0.01 to 100 atm. It is found that the isomerization reaction of the cyclopentadienyl radical via 1,2-hydrogen transfer dominates at low temperatures and high pressures, while the well-skipping decomposition reaction which forms propargyl and acetylene is important at high temperatures and low pressures. Both the decomposition reaction of the cyclopentadienyl radicals and its reverse reaction show pronounced pressure dependence, and their reaction rate constants are compared against available low-pressure experimental measurements and theoretical studies. The temperature- and pressure-dependent rate coefficients for important reactions involved on the C₅H₅ PES are calculated and updated in a chemical kinetic model. Impacts of the unimolecular reactions of the cyclopentadienyl radicals on the PAH formation are explored by the numerical modeling of a low-pressure cyclopentene counterflow diffusion flame.     

Validation of flow simulation and gas combustion sub-models for the CFD-based prediction of NOx formation in biomass grate furnaces

While reasonably accurate in simulating gas phase combustion in biomass grate furnaces, CFD tools based on simple turbulence–chemistry interaction models and global reaction mechanisms have been shown to lack in reliability regarding the prediction of NO_x formation. Coupling detailed NO_x reaction kinetics with advanced turbulence–chemistry interaction models is a promising alternative, yet computationally inefficient for engineering purposes. In the present work, a model is proposed to overcome these difficulties. The model is based on the Realizable k–? model for turbulence, Eddy Dissipation Concept for turbulence–chemistry interaction and the HK97 reaction mechanism. The assessment of the sub-models in terms of accuracy and computational effort was carried out on three laboratory-scale turbulent jet flames in comparison with the experimental data. Without taking NO_x formation into account, the accuracy of turbulence modelling and turbulence–chemistry interaction modelling was systematically examined on Sandia Flame D and Sandia CO/H₂/N₂ Flame B to support the choice of the associated models. As revealed by the Large Eddy Simulations of the former flame, the shortcomings of turbulence modelling by the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach considerably influence the prediction of the mixing-dominated combustion process. This reduced the sensitivity of the RANS results to the variations of turbulence–chemistry interaction models and combustion kinetics. Issues related to the NO_x formation with a focus on fuel bound nitrogen sources were investigated on a NH₃-doped syngas flame. The experimentally observed trend in NO_x yield from NH₃ was correctly reproduced by HK97, whereas the replacement of its combustion subset by that of a detailed reaction scheme led to a more accurate agreement, but at increased computational costs. Moreover, based on results of simulations with HK97, the main features of the local course of the NO_x formation processes were identified by a detailed analysis of the interactions between the nitrogen chemistry and the underlying flow field.     

A kinetic investigation on low-temperature ignition of propane with ozone addition in an RCM

To extend the temperature for propane ignition to a lower region (< 680 K), ozone (O₃) was used as an ignition promoter to investigate the low-temperature chemistry of propane. Ignition delay times for propane containing varying concentrations of O₃ (0, 100, and 1000 ppm) were measured at 25 bar, 654–882 K, and equivalence ratios of 0.5 and 1.0 in a rapid compression machine (RCM). Species profiles during propane ignition with varying O₃ concentrations were recorded using a fast sampling system combined with a gas chromatograph (GC). A kinetic model for propane ignition with O₃ was developed. O₃ shortened ignition delay times of propane significantly, and the NTC behavior was weakened. O atoms released from O₃ reacted with propane through hydrogen abstraction reactions, which led to the fast production of OH radicals. The following oxidation of fuel radicals generated additional OH radicals. Consequently, the inhibition caused by the slow chemistry of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in the NTC region was weakened in the presence of O₃. Experimental results with O₃ addition can provide extra constraints on the low-temperature chemistry of propane. Species profiles during propane ignition at 730 K with 1000 ppm O₃ addition showed the production of propanal (C₂H₅CHO), acetone (CH₃COCH₃), and acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) was promoted significantly. Model analyses indicated that O₃ shifted the oxidation temperature of propane to a lower region, in which reactions of ROO radicals (NC₃H₇O₂ and IC₃H₇O₂) tend to generate RO radicals (NC₃H₇O and IC₃H₇O). The promotion of RO radicals led to the fast production of C₂H₅CHO, CH₃COCH₃, and CH₃CHO. The corresponding species profile highlighted the reaction relevant to ROO and RO radicals (NC₃H₇O + O₂ = C₂H₅CHO + HO₂ and 2 IC₃H₇O₂ = 2 IC₃H₇O + O₂). Rate constants of these reactions were updated, which can potentially improve the performance of the core mechanism under lower temperatures and provide references for model development of larger hydrocarbons.     

Oxidation study of n-propylamine with SVUV-photoionization molecular-beam mass spectrometry

This work reports the experimental results of n-propylamine (NPA) oxidation in a jet-stirred reactor at 1 atm within 625–875 K, equivalence ratios from 0.5 to 2.0. Oxidation products and intermediates were identified and quantified with synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry. Apart from various hydrocarbons, oxygenated and nitrogenous species reported in previous studies of amines, several intermediates were newly detected, including formamide (H₂NCHO), nitromethane (CH₃NO₂), nitrous acid (HNO₂), 2-propen-1-ol (C₃H₅OH) and 2-propenal (C₂H₃CHO). A detailed kinetic model consisting of 277 species and 2314 reactions was developed with reasonable predictions against the measured data. The rate-of-production and sensitivity analyses results show that NPA oxidation at low temperatures is dominated by the reaction with HO₂. Particular attention was paid to the main oxidation product HCN, because its formation is affected by both fuel structure and reaction temperature. The equivalence ratio changes have an opposite effect on HCN concentration in NPA oxidation compared with the pyrrole oxidation and ethylamine flame. In the current study, the peak mole fraction of HCN decreases with increasing equivalence ratio, because the formation of CN triple bond in HCN requires successive H-abstractions, dominantly controlled by the concentrations of OH/HO₂ radicals and O₂. In addition, a comparison between the experimental results of NPA oxidation and pyrolysis was performed to illustrate the effect of O₂ concentration on reaction routes. Current results provide a preliminary insight into the combustion kinetics of more complicated aliphatic amines.     

Microscopic insight into catalytic HCN removal over the CuO surface in chemical looping combustion

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is well-accepted as a main nitrogen-containing precursor from fuel nitrogen to nitrogen oxides. When using coal as fuel with a CuO-based oxygen carrier in chemical looping combustion (CLC), complex heterogeneous reactions exist among the system of HCN, O₂, NO, H₂O, and CuO particles. This work performs density functional theory (DFT) calculations to systematically probe the microscopic HCN heterogeneous reactions over the CuO particle surface. The results indicate that HCN is chemisorbed on the CuO surface, and the third dissociation step within the consecutive three-step HCN dissociations (HCN*→CN*→NCO*→N*) is the rate-determining step. Namely, the CN*/NCO* radicals can be deemed as an indicator of the performance of HCN removal due to their quite higher dissociation energies. With the existence of O₂, H₂O, and NO, the reaction mechanism of HCN conversion becomes extremely complex. Both DFT calculations and kinetic analyses determine that O₂, NO, and H₂O all significantly accelerate the consumption of CN*/NCO* radicals to produce various N-containing species (NOx or NH₃) to different extents. Finally, a skeletal reaction network in a system of O₂/NO/H₂O/HCN is concluded, which clearly elucidates that CuO exhibits excellent catalytic activity toward HCN removal.     

The role of radical-radical chain-propagating pathways in the phenyl + propargyl reaction

Well-skipping radical-radical reactions can provide a chain-propagating pathway for formation of polycyclic radicals implicated in soot inception. Here we use controlled pyrolysis in a microreactor to isolate and examine the role of well-skipping channels in the phenyl (C₆H₅) + propargyl (C₃H₃) radical-radical reaction at temperatures of 800–1600 K and pressures near 25 Torr. The temperature and concentration dependence of the closed-shell (C₉H₈) and radical (C₉H₇) products are observed using electron-ionization mass spectrometry. The flow in the reactor is simulated using a boundary layer model employing a chemical mechanism based on recent rate coefficient calculations. Comparison between simulation and experiment shows reasonable agreement, within a factor of 3, while suggesting possible improvements to the model. In contrast, eliminating the well-skipping reactions from the chemistry mechanism causes a much larger discrepancy between simulation and experiment in the temperature dependence of the radical concentration, revealing that the well-skipping pathways, especially to form indenyl radical, are significant at temperatures of 1200 K and higher. While most C₉H₇ forms by well-skipping at 25 Torr, an additional simulation indicates that the well-skipping channels only contribute around 3% of the C₉H_x yield at atmospheric pressure, thus indicating a negligible role of the well-skipping pathways at atmospheric and higher pressures.     

Exploration on laminar flame propagation of 3,3-dimethyl-1-butene, 2,3-dimethyl-1-butene and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene

Laminar flame propagation of branched hexene isomers/air mixtures including 3,3-dimethyl-1-butene (NEC₆D3), 2,3-dimethyl-1-butene (XC₆D1) and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene (XC₆D2) was investigated using a high-pressure constant-volume cylindrical combustion vessel at 1–10 atm, 373 K and equivalence ratios of 0.7–1.5. The measured laminar burning velocity (LBV) decreases in the order of NEC₆D3, XC₆D1 and XC₆D2, which indicates distinct fuel molecular structure effects. A kinetic model was constructed and examined using the new experimental data. Modeling analyses were performed to reveal fuel-specific flame chemistry of branched hexene isomers. In the NEC₆D3 and XC₆D1 flames, the allylic CC bond dissociation reaction plays the most crucial role in fuel decomposition under rich conditions, while its dominance is replaced by H-abstraction reactions under lean conditions. The H-abstraction and H-assisted isomerization reactions are concluded to govern fuel consumption in the XC₆D2 flame under all investigated conditions. Both C₀C₃ reactions and fuel-specific reactions are found to be influential to the laminar flame propagation of the three branched hexene isomers. Fuel molecular structure effects were analyzed with special attentions on key intermediates distributions and fuel-specific reactions in all flames. Due to the formation selectivity of key intermediates such as 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, the production of reactive radicals especially H follows the order of NEC₆D3 > XC₆D1 > XC₆D2, which results in the same order of fuel reactivities and LBVs.     

Methanol oxidation up to 100 atm in a supercritical pressure jet-stirred reactor

Methanol (CH₃OH) has attracted considerable attention as a renewable fuel or fuel additive with low greenhouse gas emissions. Methanol oxidation was studied using a recently developed supercritical pressure jet-stirred reactor (SP-JSR) at pressures of 10 and 100 atm, at temperatures from 550 to 950 K, and at equivalence ratios of 0.1, 1.0, and 9.0 in experiments and simulations. The experimental results show that the onset temperature of CH₃OH oxidation at 100 atm is around 700 K, which is more than 100 K lower than the onset at 10 atm and this trend cannot be predicted by the existing kinetics models. Furthermore, a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior was clearly observed at 100 atm at fuel rich conditions for methanol for the first time. To understand the observed temperature shift in the reactivity and the NTC effect, we updated some key elementary reaction rates of relevance to high pressure CH₃OH oxidation from the literature and added some new low-temperature reaction pathways such as CH₂O + HO₂ = HOCH₂O₂ (RO₂), RO₂ + RO₂ = HOCH₂O (RO) + HOCH₂O (RO) + O₂, and CH₃OH + RO₂ = CH₂OH + HOCH₂O₂H (ROOH). Although the model with these updates improves the prediction somewhat for the experimental data at 100 atm and reproduces well high-temperature ignition delay times and laminar flame speed data in the literature, discrepancies still exist for some aspects of the 100 atm low-temperature oxidation data. In addition, it was found that the pressure-dependent HO₂ chemistry shifts to lower temperature as the pressure increases such that the NTC effect at fuel-lean conditions is suppressed. Therefore, as shown in the experiments, the NTC phenomenon was only observed at the fuel-rich condition where fuel radicals are abundant and the HO₂ chemistry at high pressure is weakened by the lack of oxygen resulting in comparatively little HO₂ formation.