A Lean Methane Prelixed Laminar Flame Doped witg Components of Diesel Fuel. Part I: n)Butylbenzene

TL;DR

This study investigates the chemistry of a lean premixed methane flame doped with n-butylbenzene, identifying numerous hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds, and proposing a new oxidation mechanism for n-butylbenzene that aligns with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of n-butylbenzene oxidation in methane flames and proposes a new mechanism validated by experimental species profiles.

Findings

Identification of 16 C3-C5 hydrocarbons and 20 aromatic products.

Development of a new oxidation mechanism for n-butylbenzene.

Good agreement between model predictions and experimental data.

Abstract

To better understand the chemistry involved during the combustion of components of diesel fuel, the structure of a laminar lean premixed methane flame doped with n-butylbenzene has been investigated. The inlet gases contained 7.1% (molar) of methane, 36.8% of oxygen and 0.96% of n-butylbenzene corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 0.74 and a ratio C10H14 / CH4 of 13.5%. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa using argon as diluent, with a gas velocity at the burner of 49.2 cm/s at 333 K. Quantified species included the usual methane C0-C2 combustion products, but also 16 C3-C5 hydrocarbons, 7 C1-C3 oxygenated compounds, as well as 20 aromatic products, namely benzene, toluene, phenylacetylene, styrene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, allylbenzene, propylbenzene, cumene, methylstyrenes, butenylbenzenes, indene, indane, naphthalene, phenol, benzaldehyde, anisole, benzylalcohol, benzofuran, and isomers of C10H10 (1-methylindene, dihydronaphtalene, butadienylbenzene). A new mechanism for the oxidation of n-butylbenzene is proposed whose predictions are in satisfactory agreement with measured species profiles in flames and flow reactor experiments. The main reaction pathways of consumption of n butylbenzene have been derived from flow rate analyses.