Publications

Influence of functional groups on low-temperature combustion chemistry of biofuels

Rotavera, Brandon; Taatjes, Craig A.

Ongoing progress in synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and catalysis continues to produce a diverse array of advanced biofuels with complex molecular structure and functional groups. In order to integrate biofuels into existing combustion systems, and to optimize the design of next-generation combustion systems, understanding connections between molecular structure and ignition at low-temperature conditions (< 1000 K) remains a priority that is addressed in part using chemical kinetics modeling. The development of predictive models relies on detailed information, derived from experimental and theoretical studies, on molecular structure and chemical reactivity, both of which influence the balance of chain reactions that occur during combustion – propagation, termination, and branching. In broad context, three main categories of reactions affect ignition behavior: (i) initiation reactions that generate a distribution of organic radicals, R˙; (ii) competing unimolecular decomposition of R˙ and bimolecular reaction of R˙ with O2; (iii) decomposition mechanisms of peroxy radical adducts (ROO˙), including isomerization via ROO˙ ⇌ Q˙OOH. All three categories are influenced by functional groups in different ways, which causes a shift in the balance of chain reactions that unfold over complex temperature- and pressure-dependent mechanisms. The objective of the present review is three-fold: (1) to provide a historical account of research on low-temperature oxidation of biofuels, including initiation reactions, peroxy radical reactions, Q˙OOH-mediated reaction mechanisms, and chain-branching chemistry; (2) to summarize the influence of functional groups on chemical kinetics relevant to chain-branching reactions, which are responsible for the accelerated production of radicals that leads to ignition; (3) to identify areas of research that are needed – experimentally and computationally – to address fundamental questions that remain. Results from experimental, quantum chemical, and chemical kinetics modeling studies are reviewed for several classes of biofuels – alcohols, esters, ketones, acyclic ethers and cyclic ethers – and are compared against analogous results in alkane oxidation. The review is organized into separate sections for each biofuel class, which include studies on thermochemistry and bond dissociation energies, rate coefficients for initiation reactions via H-abstraction and related branching fractions, reaction mechanisms and product formation from reactive intermediates, ignition delay times, and chemical kinetics modeling. Each section is then summarized in order to identify areas for which additional functional group-specific work is required. The review concludes with an outline for research directions for improving the fundamental understanding of biofuel ignition chemistry and related chemical kinetics modeling.