Zeynep Serinyel

Experimental and Kinetic Modeling of the Oxidation of Synthetic Jet Fuels and Surrogates

ABSTRACT The interest for synthetic and/or bio-derived jet fuels is increasing with the aim of reducing air transportation dependence on fossil fuels, soot emissions, and carbon footprint. Jet fuels can be produced through Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of paraffins followed by post-processing or blending to meet jet fuel specifications. Synthetic jet fuels mainly contain n-alkanes, iso-alkanes, and cyclo-alkanes, with possible aromatic fractions. The aim of this work is to study the kinetics of oxidation of gas-to-liquid (GtL) and coal-to-liquid (CtL) alternative jet fuels and representative surrogates in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) operating under the same conditions of temperature, pressure, and equivalence ratio. To experimentally represent the selected synthetic jet fuels, we have designed surrogates consisting of 3–5 representative species. We experimentally studied the oxidation of these representative mixtures (n-decane, iso-octane, and decalin for GtL; n-decane, iso-octane, n-propylcyclohexane, decalin, and n-propylbenzene for CtL), a 100% GtL, and a 100% CtL in a JSR at 10 atm and an equivalence ratio φ = 1. A detailed kinetic reaction mechanism (2430 species versus 10,962 reversible reactions) and model fuels (4–7 components) were developed and validated by comparison with experimental results.

The Combustion of Synthetic Jet Fuels (Gas to Liquid and Coal to Liquid) and Multi-Component Surrogates: Experimental and Modeling Study

Research on synthetic jet fuels production and combustion has recently gained importance because they could help addressing security of supply and sustainable air transportation challenges. The combustion of a 100% Gas to Liquid from Shell (C10.45H23.06; M=148.44 g.mol−1; H/C=2.20; density=737.7 g L−1), a 100% vol. Coal to Liquid from Sasol (C11.06H21.6; M=154.32 g mol−1; H/C=1.95; density= 815.7 g L−1) and surrogates composed of various concentrations of n-decane iso-octane, n-propylcyclohexane, n-propylbenzene, and decalin, were studied in a jet-stirred reactor under the same conditions (temperature, 550–1150 K; pressure, 10 bar; equivalence ratio, 0.5–2). Comparison of these results helped designing optimum surrogate model fuels for the chemical kinetic computations.For simulating the kinetics of oxidation of the synthetic fuels we used new surrogates consisting of mixtures of n-decane, iso-octane, 2-methylheptane, 3-methylheptane, decalin, n-propylcyclohexane, n-propylbenzene, and tetralin. The detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism proposed here consisted of 2430 species reacting in 10962 reversible reactions. It was validated using the entire experimental database obtained previously in our laboratory and in the present work. The current chemical kinetic model was also tested for the auto-ignition under shock tubes using data from the literature. Kinetic computations involving reaction paths analyses and sensitivity analyses were used to interpret the results.Copyright