Kieran P. Somers

Revisiting the Kinetics and Thermodynamics of the Low-Temperature Oxidation Pathways of Alkanes: A Case Study of the Three Pentane Isomers

This paper describes our developing understanding of low-temperature oxidation kinetics. We have investigated the ignition of the three pentane isomers in a rapid compression machine over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, including conditions of negative temperature coefficient behavior. The pentane isomers are small alkanes, yet have structures that are complex enough to allow for the application of their kinetic and thermochemical rules to larger molecules. Updates to the thermochemistry of the species important in the low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons have been made based on a thorough literature review. An evaluation of recent quantum-chemically derived rate coefficients from the literature pertinent to important low-temperature oxidation reaction classes has been performed, and new rate rules are recommended for these classes. Several reaction classes have also been included to determine their importance with regard to simulation results, and we have found that they should be included when developing future chemical kinetic mechanisms. A comparison of the model simulations with pressure-time histories from experiments in a rapid compression machine shows very good agreement for both ignition delay time and pressure rise for both the first- and second-stage ignition events. We show that revisions to both the thermochemistry and the kinetics are required in order to replicate experiments well. A broader validation of the models with ignition delay times from shock tubes and a rapid compression machine is presented in an accompanying paper. The results of this study enhance our understanding of the combustion of straight- and branched-chained alkanes.

The pyrolysis of 2-methylfuran: a quantum chemical, statistical rate theory and kinetic modelling study

Due to the rapidly growing interest in the use of biomass derived furanic compounds as potential platform chemicals and fossil fuel replacements, there is a simultaneous need to understand the pyrolysis and combustion properties of such molecules. To this end, the potential energy surfaces for the pyrolysis relevant reactions of the biofuel candidate 2-methylfuran have been characterized using quantum chemical methods (CBS-QB3, CBS-APNO and G3). Canonical transition state theory is employed to determine the high-pressure limiting kinetics, k(T), of elementary reactions. Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory with an energy grained master equation is used to compute pressure-dependent rate constants, k(T,p), and product branching fractions for the multiple-well, multiple-channel reaction pathways which typify the pyrolysis reactions of the title species. The unimolecular decomposition of 2-methylfuran is shown to proceed via hydrogen atom transfer reactions through singlet carbene intermediates which readily undergo ring opening to form collisionally stabilised acyclic C5H6O isomers before further decomposition to C1-C4 species. Rate constants for abstraction by the hydrogen atom and methyl radical are reported, with abstraction from the alkyl side chain calculated to dominate. The fate of the primary abstraction product, 2-furanylmethyl radical, is shown to be thermal decomposition to the n-butadienyl radical and carbon monoxide through a series of ring opening and hydrogen atom transfer reactions. The dominant bimolecular products of hydrogen atom addition reactions are found to be furan and methyl radical, 1-butene-1-yl radical and carbon monoxide and vinyl ketene and methyl radical. A kinetic mechanism is assembled with computer simulations in good agreement with shock tube speciation profiles taken from the literature. The kinetic mechanism developed herein can be used in future chemical kinetic modelling studies on the pyrolysis and oxidation of 2-methylfuran, or the larger molecular structures for which it is a known pyrolysis/combustion intermediate (e.g. cellulose, coals, 2,5-dimethylfuran).

Modeling Nitrogen Species as Pollutants: Thermochemical Influences

To simulate emissions of nitrogen-containing compounds in practical combustion environments, it is necessary to have accurate values for their thermochemical parameters, as well as accurate kinetic values to describe the rates of their formation and decomposition. Significant disparity is observed in the literature for the former, and we therefore present herein high-accuracy ab initio gas-phase thermochemistry for 60 nitrogenous compounds, many of which are important in the formation and consumption chemistry of NOx species. Several quantum-chemical composite methods (CBS-APNO, G3, and G4) were utilized to derive enthalpies of formation via the atomization method. Entropies and heat capacities were calculated from traditional statistical thermodynamics, with oscillators treated as anharmonic based on ro-vibrational property analyses carried out at the B3LYP/cc-pVTZ level of theory. The use of quantum chemical methods, along with the treatments of anharmonicities and hindered rotors, ensures accurate enthalpy of formation, entropy, and heat capacity values across the temperature range 298.15-3000 K. The implications of these results for atmospheric and combustion modeling are discussed.

Chemical Kinetics of Hydrogen Atom Abstraction from Allylic Sites by 3O2; Implications for Combustion Modeling and Simulation

Hydrogen atom abstraction from allylic C-H bonds by molecular oxygen plays a very important role in determining the reactivity of fuel molecules having allylic hydrogen atoms. Rate constants for hydrogen atom abstraction by molecular oxygen from molecules with allylic sites have been calculated. A series of molecules with primary, secondary, tertiary, and super secondary allylic hydrogen atoms of alkene, furan, and alkylbenzene families are taken into consideration. Those molecules include propene, 2-butene, isobutene, 2-methylfuran, and toluene containing the primary allylic hydrogen atom; 1-butene, 1-pentene, 2-ethylfuran, ethylbenzene, and n-propylbenzene containing the secondary allylic hydrogen atom; 3-methyl-1-butene, 2-isopropylfuran, and isopropylbenzene containing tertiary allylic hydrogen atom; and 1-4-pentadiene containing super allylic secondary hydrogen atoms. The M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory was used to optimize the geometries of all of the reactants, transition states, products and also the hinder rotation treatments for lower frequency modes. The G4 level of theory was used to calculate the electronic single point energies for those species to determine the 0 K barriers to reaction. Conventional transition state theory with Eckart tunnelling corrections was used to calculate the rate constants. The comparison between our calculated rate constants with the available experimental results from the literature shows good agreement for the reactions of propene and isobutene with molecular oxygen. The rate constant for toluene with O2 is about an order magnitude slower than that experimentally derived from a comprehensive model proposed by Oehlschlaeger and coauthors. The results clearly indicate the need for a more detailed investigation of the combustion kinetics of toluene oxidation and its key pyrolysis and oxidation intermediates. Despite this, our computed barriers and rate constants retain an important internal consistency. Rate constants calculated in this work have also been used in predicting the reactivity of the target fuels of 1-butene, 2-butene, isobutene, 2-methylfuran, 2,5-dimethylfuran, and toluene, and the results show that the ignition delay times for those fuels have been increased by a factor of 1.5-3. This work provides a first systematic study of one of the key initiation reaction for compounds containing allylic hydrogen atoms.

Impact of Detailed Fuel Chemistry on Knocking Behaviour in Engines

Demand for more efficient gasoline vehicles has driven the development of downsized, engines, which benefit from higher octane.