The Low Temperature Oxidation of 2,7-Dimethyloctane in a Pressurized Flow Reactor
Authors:   , Farid Farinaz , Miller David Leslie , Cernansky Nicholas Peter 
Published: July 2021

The complexity of real fuels has fostered the use of simple mixtures of hydrocarbons whose combustion behavior approximates that of real fuels in both experimental and computational studies to develop models of the combustion of the real fuel. These simple mixtures have been called surrogates. Lightly branched paraffins are an important class of constituents in gasoline, diesel and aviation turbine fuels and therefore are primary candidates for use as a component in a surrogate. Unfortunately, fundamental studies on combustion characteristics of high molecular weight mono- and di-methylated iso-paraffins are scarce. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the low-temperature oxidation of 2,7-dimethyloctane (2,7-DMO) (C10H22), a lightly branched isomer of decane. Replicate 2,7-DMO oxidation experiments were conducted in a pressurized flow reactor (PFR) over the temperature range of 550 - 850 K, at a pressure of 8 atm and an equivalence ratio of 0.3 in 4.21% oxygen / nitrogen. The reactivity was mapped by continuous monitoring of CO, CO₂, and O2 using a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) carbon monoxide / carbon dioxide analyzer and an electrochemical oxygen sensor. For examining the underlying reaction chemistry, detailed speciation of samples was performed at selected temperatures using a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector coupled to a mass spectrometer. Comparable oxidation experiments for n-decane were carried out to examine the unique effects of branching on fuel reactivity and distribution of major stable intermediates. For both isomers, the onset of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) region was observed near 700 K, with the reactivity decreasing with increasing the temperature. The flow reactor study of n-decane oxidation confirmed that the isomerization reduces the amount of CO produced at peak reactivity. In addition to reaction inhibition, branching affected the distribution of C2-C4 olefin intermediates. While the oxidation of n-decane resulted primarily in the formation of ethene near the NTC start, propene and isobutene were the major olefins produced from 2,7-DMO. A comparative analysis of experimental data with respect to a detailed chemical kinetic model for 2,7-DMO was performed and discrepancies were noted. Based on these results, a collaborative effort with Dr. Charles Westbrook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) was initiated to refine the model predictions in the low temperature and NTC regimes. The effort resulted in an updated version of the 2,7-DMO mechanism, improving some of the key features such as calculated CO₂ profile and final yields of iso-butene over the studied range of temperature. Fuel pyrolysis in the intermediate temperature regime, 850 - 1000 K, also was investigated for the first time in the PFR facility. However, preliminary n-decane experiments measured only a small amount of fuel decomposition, indicating that higher temperature operation would be beneficial. The major species produced from n-decane decomposition, in descending order of molar fraction, were ethene, propene, and 1-butene. These results were compared with the predictions of two existing chemical kinetic models and the sources of variations between the experiments and the models as well as among the mechanisms were investigated. At 1000 K, the mechanisms predicted higher levels of fuel depletion and ethene production. Also, while the mechanisms were similar in their predicted pathways for fuel depletion and formation of ethene, inconsistencies were observed in relative contribution of these pathways to the final yields as well as the rate parameter determination for several sensitive reactions with respect to n-decane and ethene. Overall, the research aided in achieving a data set quantifying the oxidation characteristics of 2,7-DMO (and n-decane for comparison) as well as an elucidation of critical reaction pathways based on experimental results. Preliminary pyrolysis experiments were carried out using n-decane and the limitations on companion 2,7-DMO pyrolysis experiments were established. The data was compared with the predictions of several chemical kinetic mechanisms and, using tools such as rate of production analysis and sensitivity analysis, the sources of deviations from experimental data as well as possible areas of improvement were identified. The findings from 2,7-DMO study was directly used to refine an existing chemical kinetic model for 2,7-DMO, in line with the ultimate goal of feeding the much needed experimental database for validation and refinement of kinetic models of jet fuel surrogates.