First Study of the Pyrolysis of a Halogenated Ester: Methyl Chloroacetate

International audienceThe pyrolysis of a halogenated ester, methyl chloroacetate (MC), under dilute atmosphere and quasi-atmospheric pressure was studied at temperatures from 473 to 1048 K using an alumina tubular reactor. MC was chosen as a surrogate to model the thermal decomposition of ethyl bromoacetate, a chemical warfare agent. A maximum MC conversion of 99.8% was observed at a residence time of 2 s, a temperature of 1048 K, and an inlet mole fraction of 0.01. The following products were quantified: CO, CO2, HCl, methane, ethylene, ethane, propene, chloromethane, dichloromethane, vinyl chloride, chloroethane, and dichloroethane. For the first time, a detailed kinetic model of MC pyrolysis was developed and gave a good prediction of the global reactivity and the formation of most of the major products. Flow rate and sensitivity analyses were made to highlight the different pathways of decomposition during the MC pyrolysis. In a first attempt to extrapolate the results obtained with methyl chloroacetate to ethyl bromoacetate, simulations were run with a modified version of the model developed in this study taking into account the differences in bond dissociation energies induced by the change of the chlorine atom by a bromine one

The role of chemistry in the oscillating combustion of hydrocarbons : an experimental and theoretical study

The stable operation of low-temperature combustion processes is an open challenge, due to the presence of undesired deviations from steady-state conditions: among them, oscillatory behaviors have been raising significant interest. In this work, the establishment of limit cycles during the combustion of hydrocarbons in a wellstirred reactor was analyzed to investigate the role of chemistry in such phenomena. An experimental investigation of methane oxidation in dilute conditions was carried out, thus creating quasi-isothermal conditions and decoupling kinetic effects from thermal ones. The transient evolution of the mole fractions of the major species was obtained for different dilution levels (0.0025 <= X-CH4 <= 0.025), inlet temperatures (1080K <= T <= 1190K) and equivalence ratios (0.75 <= Phi <= 1). Rate of production analysis and sensitivity analysis on a fundamental kinetic model allowed to identify the role of the dominating recombination reactions, first driving ignition, then causing extinction. A bifurcation analysis provided further insight in the major role of these reactions for the reactor stability. One-parameter continuation allowed to identify a temperature range where a single, unstable solution exists, and where oscillations were actually observed. Multiple unstable states were identified below the upper branch, where the stable (cold) solution is preferred. The role of recombination reactions in determining the width of the unstable region could be captured, and bifurcation analysis showed that, by decreasing their strength, the unstable range was progressively reduced, up to the full disappearance of oscillations. This affected also the oxidation of heavier hydrocarbons, like ethylene. Finally, less dilute conditions were analyzed using propane as fuel: the coupling with heat exchange resulted in multiple Hopf Bifurcations, with the consequent formation of intermediate, stable regions within the instability range in agreement with the experimental observations

Study of oscillations during methane oxidation with species probing

Biogas has been considered as a renewable energy source with respect to fossil fuels due to its sustainability, security supply, and environmental friendly potential [1-4]. Methane occupies a large part in biogas. It is of great value to review the methane oxidation for a primary understanding of the features associated with biogas combustion. It was found that dynamic behavior in terms of methane oxidation occurred under specific conditions. The first methane oxidation oscillation experiments were conducted by [5] in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) and were extended to a higher inlet temperature [6]. The map of dynamic behavior was drawn in terms of various C/O ratios and temperatures ranging from 1025-1275 K at a fixed 90% nitrogen bath gas. Recently, Lubrano Lavadera et al. [7] investigated the main parameters, such as, equivalence ratios (0.5-1.5), residence time (1.5-2 s), various bath gases (N2, CO2, He, H2O), on the oscillatory behavior of methane oxidation. However, to our best knowledge, studies of dynamic phenomenology with species probing have never been reported. Because of the heat release in terms of the exothermic or endothermic reactions, the temperature and species oscillations are strongly coupled during fuel oxidation. In order to put emphasis on species dynamic behavior, very diluted conditions are needed to decouple as much as possible temperature and species oscillations. The purpose of this work is to investigate the effects of various parameters: inlet mole fraction of methane (0.1-0.5%), stoichiometric condition (=1) and reactor temperatures (950-1200 K), on the species oscillations during methane oxidation. A detailed kinetic mechanism (POLIMI) [8] is selected to interpret the experimental data