Chemical kinetics of cyclic ethers in combustion

Abstract

Cyclic Ethers (CEs) belong to a class of compounds of importance to understand the chemistry of both the engine auto-ignition of hydrocarbon fuels and the combustion of oxygenated biofuels. This article, divided in six parts, aims at systematically analyzing how up-to-date experimental and theoretical methods were applied to unveil the gas-phase oxidation chemistry of these compounds. The first part gives a brief overview on the significance of CEs as intermediates formed during alkane low-temperature oxidation summarizing its generally accepted chemical mechanism. This part also addresses the role of CEs as potential biofuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass and discusses the production methods of these molecules and their combustion performances in engine. The second part presents the different theoretical methods dedicated to calculate the electronic structure, thermochemical and kinetic data of CEs. The third part introduces the experimental methods used in studies related to CEs with a special focus on mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. The fourth part reviews the experimental and modeling studies related to CE formation during the low-temperature oxidation of linear, branched, cyclic alkanes, alkylbenzenes, olefins, and oxygenated fuels. The fifth part analyses the published work concerning the CE degradation chemistry and highlights the dominant involved reactions. To finish, the sixth part concludes and proposes future research directions.