High-pressure pyrolysis and oxidation of ethanol

The pyrolysis and oxidation of ethanol has been investigated at temperatures of 600–900 K, a pressure of 50 bar and residence times of 4.3–6.8 s in a laminar flow reactor. The experiments, conducted with mixtures highly diluted in nitrogen, covered fuel-air equivalence ratios (Φ) of 0.1, 1.0, 43, and ∞ .

Ethanol pyrolysis was observed at temperatures above 850 K. The onset temperature of ethanol oxidation occurred at 700–725 K over a wide range of stoichiometries. A considerable yield of aldehydes was detected at intermediate temperatures. A detailed chemical kinetic model was developed and evaluated against the present data as well as ignition delay times and flame speed measurements from literature.

The model predicted the onset of fuel conversion and the composition of products from the flow reactor experiments fairly well. It also predicted well ignition delays above 900 K whereas it overpredicted reported flame speeds slightly. The results of sensitivity analyses revealed the importance of the reaction between ethanol and the hydroperoxyl radical for ignition at high pressure and intermediate temperatures.

An accurate determination of the rate coefficients for this reaction is important to improve the reliability of modeling predictions.