Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) is a carbonate ester that can be produced in an environmentfriendly way from methanol and CO2. DMC is one of the main components of the flammable electrolyte used in Li-ion batteries, and it can also be used as a diesel fuel additive. Studying the combustion chemistry of DMC can therefore improve the use of biofuels and help developing safer Li-ion batteries. The combustion chemistry of DMC has been investigated in a limited number of studies. The aim of this study was to complement the scarce data available for DMC combustion in the literature. Laminar flame speeds at 318 K, 363 K, and 463 K were measured for various equivalence ratios (ranging from 0.7 to 1.5) in a spherical vessel, greatly extending the range of conditions investigated. Shock tubes were used to measure time histories of CO and H2O using tunable laser absorption for the first time for DMC. Characteristic reaction times were also measured through OH* emission. Shock-tube spectroscopic measurements were performed under dilute conditions, at three equivalence ratios (fuel-lean, stoichiometric, and fuel-rich) between 1260 and 1660 K near 1.3±0.2 atm, and under pyrolysis conditions (98%+) ranging from 1230 to 2500 K near 1.3±0.2 atm. Laminar flame speed experiments were performed around atmospheric pressure. Detailed kinetics models from the literature were compared to the data, and it was found that none are capable of predicting the data over the entire range of conditions investigated. A numerical analysis was performed with the most accurate model, underlining the need to revisit at least 3 key reactions involving DMC.
To assess the fire hazard associated with venting gases coming from a lithium-ion battery during a thermal runaway, a mixture representative of such venting gas was determined by averaging 40 gas compositions presented in the literature. The final mixture is composed of C 3 H 8 , C 2 H 6 , C 2 H 4 , CH 4 , H 2 , CO, and CO 2 . The combustion properties of this mixture were determined using various combustion devices: shock tubes for ignition delay time measurements in air and for H 2 O time histories in very dilute mixtures (99% Ar), as well as a closed bomb to measure the laminar flame speeds. Experiments were performed at around atmospheric pressure and for several equivalence ratios in all cases. Several detailed kinetics models from the literature were assessed against the data generated with this very complex mixture, and it was found that modern detailed kinetics mechanisms were capable of appropriately predicting the combustion properties of thermal runaway gases from a battery in most cases, with the NUIGMech 1.1 model being the most accurate. A numerical analysis was conducted with the two most modern models to explain the results and highlight the most important reactions.
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