Experimental investigation of the low temperature oxidation of the five isomers of hexane

Monitoring of n-hexane degradation in a plasma reactor by chemical ionization mass spectrometry

n-Hexane (C6H14) removal and conversion are investigated in a filamentary plasma generated by a pulsed high-voltage Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) at atmospheric pressure and room temperature in a dry N2/O2 (20%) mixture with C6H14. The degradation of n-hexane and the by-product formation are analyzed in real-time using a high-resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer coupled with Chemical Ionization (CI). As alkanes are reacting slowly with H3O+ ions, two precursor ions were used: O2+ to follow the n-hexane mixing ratios and H3O+ to follow the mixing ratios of organic by-products. As the CI-FTICR technique can work at high mixing ratios, studies were made between 5 and 200 ppm of n-hexane. Absorption spectroscopy is also used to follow ozone and carbon dioxide molecules. We show that the DBD efficiency increases for lower n-hexane mixing ratios and a large number of by-products are identified, with the major compounds being: formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide along with nitrate compounds. Based on the nature of the by-products characterized, a mechanism accounting for their formation is proposed.

Experimental and Updated Kinetic Modeling Study of Neopentane Low Temperature Oxidation

Neopentane is an ideal fuel model to study low-temperature oxidation chemistry. The significant discrepancies between experimental data and simulations using the existing neopentane models indicate that an updated study of neopentane oxidation is needed. In this work, neopentane oxidation experiments are carried out using two jet-stirred reactors (JSRs) at 1 atm, at a residence time of 3 s, and at three different equivalence ratios of 0.5, 0.9, and 1.62. Two different analytical methods (synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography) were used to investigate the species distributions. Numerous oxidation intermediates were detected and quantified, including acetone, 3,3-dimethyloxetane, methacrolein, isobutene, 2-methylpropanal, isobutyric acid, and peroxides, which are valuable for validating the kinetic model describing neopentane oxidation. In the model development, the pressure dependencies of the rate constants for the reaction classes Q̇OOH + O₂ and Q̇OOH decompositions are considered. This addition improves the prediction of the low-temperature oxidation reactivity of neopentane. Another focus of model development is to improve the prediction of carboxylic acids formed during the low-temperature oxidation of neopentane. The detection and identification of isobutyric acid indicates the existence of the Korcek mechanism during neopentane oxidation. Regarding the formation of acetic acid, the reaction channels are considered to be initiated from the reactions of ȮH radical addition to acetaldehyde/acetone. This updated kinetic model is validated extensively against the experimental data in this work and various experimental data available in the literature, including ignition delay times (IDTs) from both shock tubes (STs) and rapid compression machines (RCMs) and JSR speciation data at high temperatures.

A Comparative Study on the Combustion Chemistry of Two Bio-hybrid Fuels: 1,3-Dioxane and 1,3-Dioxolane

Bio-hybrid fuels are a promising solution to accomplish a carbon-neutral and low-emission future for the transportation sector. Two potential candidates are the heterocyclic acetals 1,3-dioxane (C₄H₈O₂) and 1,3-dioxolane (C₃H₆O₂), which can be produced from the combination of biobased feedstocks, carbon dioxide, and renewable electricity. In this work, comprehensive experimental and numerical investigations of 1,3-dioxane and 1,3-dioxolane were performed to support their application in internal combustion engines. Ignition delay times and laminar flame speeds were measured to reveal the combustion chemistry on the macroscale, while speciation measurements in a jet-stirred reactor and ethylene-based counterflow diffusion flames provided insights into combustion chemistry and pollutant formation on the microscale. Comparing the experimental and numerical data using either available or proposed kinetic models revealed that the combustion chemistry and pollutant formation differ substantially between 1,3-dioxane and 1,3-dioxolane, although their molecular structures are similar. For example, 1,3-dioxane showed higher reactivity in the low-temperature regime (500-800 K), while 1,3-dioxolane addition to ethylene increased polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot formation in high-temperature (>800 K) counterflow diffusion flames. Reaction pathway analyses were performed to examine and explain the differences between these two bio-hybrid fuels, which originate from the chemical bond dissociation energies in their molecular structures.

Combustion in the future: The importance of chemistry

Combustion involves chemical reactions that are often highly exothermic. Combustion systems utilize the energy of chemical compounds released during this reactive process for transportation, to generate electric power, or to provide heat for various applications. Chemistry and combustion are interlinked in several ways. The outcome of a combustion process in terms of its energy and material balance, regarding the delivery of useful work as well as the generation of harmful emissions, depends sensitively on the molecular nature of the respective fuel. The design of efficient, low-emission combustion processes in compliance with air quality and climate goals suggests a closer inspection of the molecular properties and reactions of conventional, bio-derived, and synthetic fuels. Information about flammability, reaction intensity, and potentially hazardous combustion by-products is important also for safety considerations. Moreover, some of the compounds that serve as fuels can assume important roles in chemical energy storage and conversion. Combustion processes can furthermore be used to synthesize materials with attractive properties. A systematic understanding of the combustion behavior thus demands chemical knowledge. Desirable information includes properties of the thermodynamic states before and after the combustion reactions and relevant details about the dynamic processes that occur during the reactive transformations from the fuel and oxidizer to the products under the given boundary conditions. Combustion systems can be described, tailored, and improved by taking chemical knowledge into account. Combining theory, experiment, model development, simulation, and a systematic analysis of uncertainties enables qualitative or even quantitative predictions for many combustion situations of practical relevance. This article can highlight only a few of the numerous investigations on chemical processes for combustion and combustion-related science and applications, with a main focus on gas-phase reaction systems. It attempts to provide a snapshot of recent progress and a guide to exciting opportunities that drive such research beyond fossil combustion.

Synthesis and Characterization of [(PbSe)1+δ]4[TiSe2]4 Isomers

This work presents the preparation of a series of [(PbSe)_1+δ]₄[TiSe₂]₄ isomers via a low temperature synthesis approach that exploits precursor nanoarchitecture to direct formation of specific isomers. The targeted isomers formed even when the precursors did not have the correct amount of each element to make a unit cell from each repeating sequence of elemental layers deposited. This suggests that the exact composition of the precursors is less important than the nanoarchitecture in directing the formation of the compounds. The as-deposited diffraction data show that the isomers begin to form during the deposition, and Ti₂Se, in addition to PbSe and TiSe₂, are present in the specular diffraction patterns. HAADF-STEM images reveal impurity layers above and below an integer number of targeted isomer unit cells. The structural data suggest that Ti₂Se forms as Se is deposited on the initial Ti layers and remains throughout isomer self-assembly. During growth, the isomers deplete the local supply of Ti and Pb, creating diffusion gradients that drive additional cations toward the growth front, which leaves surface impurity layers of TiSe₂ and TiO₂ after the supply of Pb is exhausted. The deposited stacking sequences direct formation of the targeted isomers, but fewer repeating units form than intended due to the lack of material per layer in the precursor and formation of impurity layers. All isomers have negative Hall and Seebeck coefficients, indicating that electrons are the majority carrier. The carrier concentration and conductivity of the isomers increase with the number of interfaces in the unit cell, resulting from charge donation between adjacent layers. The opposite variation of the carrier concentration and mobility with temperature result in minima in the resistivity between 50 and 100 K. The very weak temperature dependence of the carrier concentration likely results from changes in the amount of charge transfer between the layers with temperature.

Isomer-Selective Detection of Keto-Hydroperoxides in the Low-Temperature Oxidation of Tetrahydrofuran

Keto-hydroperoxides (KHPs) are reactive, partially oxidized intermediates that play a central role in chain-branching reactions during the gas-phase low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons and oxygenated species. Although multiple isomeric forms of the KHP intermediate are possible in complex oxidation environments when multiple reactant radicals exist that contain nonequivalent O₂ addition sites, isomer-resolved data of KHPs have not been reported. In this work, we provide partially isomer-resolved detection and quantification of the KHPs that form during the low-temperature oxidation of tetrahydrofuran (THF, cycl.-O-CH₂CH₂CH₂CH₂-). We describe how these short-lived KHPs were detected, identified, and quantified using integrated experimental and theoretical approaches. The experimental approaches were based on direct molecular-beam sampling from a jet-stirred reactor operated at near-atmospheric pressure and at temperatures between 500 and 700 K, followed by mass spectrometry with single-photon ionization via tunable synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation, and the identification of fragmentation patterns. The interpretation of the experiments was guided by theoretical calculations of ionization thresholds, fragment appearance energies, and photoionization cross sections. On the basis of the experimentally observed and theoretically calculated ionization and fragment appearance energies, KHP isomers could be distinguished as originating from H-abstraction reactions from either the α-C adjacent to the O atom or the β-C atoms. Temperature-dependent concentration profiles of the partially resolved isomeric KHP intermediates were determined in the range of 500-700 K, and the results indicate that the observed KHP isomers are formed overwhelmingly (∼99%) from the α-C THF radical. Comparisons of the partially isomer-resolved quantification of the KHPs to up-to-date kinetic modeling results reveal new opportunities for the development of a next-generation THF oxidation mechanism.

Flash Pyrolysis of t-Butyl Hydroperoxide and Di-t-butyl Peroxide: Evidence of Roaming in the Decomposition of Organic Hydroperoxides

Thermal decomposition of t-butyl hydroperoxide and di-t-butyl peroxide was investigated using flash pyrolysis (in a short reaction time of <100 μs) and vacuum-ultraviolet (λ = 118.2 nm) single-photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (VUV-SPI-TOFMS) at temperatures up to 1120 K and quantum computational methods. Acetone and methyl radical were detected as the predominant products in the initial decomposition of di-t-butyl peroxide via O-O bond fission. In the initial dissociation of t-butyl hydroperoxide, acetone, methyl radical, isobutylene, and isobutylene oxide products were identified. The novel detection of the unimolecular formation of isobutylene oxide, as supported by the computational study, was found to proceed via a roaming hydroxyl radical facilitated by a hydrogen-bonded intermediate. This new pathway could provide a new class of reactions to consider in the modeling of the low temperature oxidation of alkanes.

Detection and Identification of the Keto-Hydroperoxide (HOOCH2OCHO) and Other Intermediates during Low-Temperature Oxidation of Dimethyl Ether

In this paper we report the detection and identification of the keto-hydroperoxide (hydroperoxymethyl formate, HPMF, HOOCH2OCHO) and other partially oxidized intermediate species arising from the low-temperature (540 K) oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME). These observations were made possible by coupling a jet-stirred reactor with molecular-beam sampling capabilities, operated near atmospheric pressure, to a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer that employs single-photon ionization via tunable synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation. On the basis of experimentally observed ionization thresholds and fragmentation appearance energies, interpreted with the aid of ab initio calculations, we have identified HPMF and its conceivable decomposition products HC(O)O(O)CH (formic acid anhydride), HC(O)OOH (performic acid), and HOC(O)OH (carbonic acid). Other intermediates that were detected and identified include HC(O)OCH3 (methyl formate), cycl-CH2-O-CH2-O- (1,3-dioxetane), CH3OOH (methyl hydroperoxide), HC(O)OH (formic acid), and H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). We show that the theoretical characterization of multiple conformeric structures of some intermediates is required when interpreting the experimentally observed ionization thresholds, and a simple method is presented for estimating the importance of multiple conformers at the estimated temperature (∼100 K) of the present molecular beam. We also discuss possible formation pathways of the detected species: for example, supported by potential energy surface calculations, we show that performic acid may be a minor channel of the O2 + ĊH2OCH2OOH reaction, resulting from the decomposition of the HOOCH2OĊHOOH intermediate, which predominantly leads to the HPMF.