Recent progress in the development of diesel surrogate fuels

Abstract

There has been much recent progress in the area of surrogate fuels for diesel. In the last few years, experiments and modeling have been performed on higher molecular weight components of relevance to diesel fuel such as n-hexadecane (n-cetane) and 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane (iso-cetane). Chemical kinetic models have been developed for all the n-alkanes up to 16 carbon atoms. Also, there has been much experimental and modeling work on lower molecular weight surrogate components such as n-decane and n-dodecane that are most relevant to jet fuel surrogates, but are also relevant to diesel surrogates where simulation of the full boiling point range is desired. For two-ring compounds, experimental work on decalin and tetralin recently has been published. For multi-component surrogate fuel mixtures, recent work on modeling of these mixtures and comparisons to real diesel fuel is reviewed. Detailed chemical kinetic models for surrogate fuels are very large in size. Significant progress also has been made in improving the mechanism reduction tools that are needed to make these large models practicable in multidimensional reacting flow simulations of diesel combustion. Nevertheless, major research gaps remain. In the case of iso-alkanes, there are experiments and modeling work on only one of relevance to diesel: iso-cetane. Also, the iso-alkanes in diesel are lightly branched and no detailed chemical kinetic models or experimental investigations are available for such compounds. More components are needed to fill out the iso-alkane boiling point range. For the aromatic class of compounds, there has been no new work for compounds in the boiling point range of diesel. Most of the new work has been on alkyl aromatics that are of the range C7 to C8, below the C10 to C20 range that is needed. For the chemical class of cycloalkanes, experiments and modeling on higher molecular weight components are warranted. Finally for multi-component surrogates needed to treat real diesel, the inclusion of higher molecular weight components is needed in models and experimental investigations.

The influence of n -butanol blending on the ignition delay times of gasoline and its surrogate at high pressures

“…evaporation) of the target fuel must be considered in its development, depending on the target property or application [8]. Primary reference fuel (PRF) is a commonly used surrogate for gasoline and is a mixture of iso-octane and n-heptane.…”

A comprehensive combustion chemistry study of 2,5-dimethylhexane

“…Schofield [1] states that these large scale models are adequate as engineering tools for studying the combustion of new fuel molecules. A recent review paper by Pitz and Mueller [2] describing the development of diesel surrogate fuel models concluded that major research gaps remain in modeling high molecular weight (i.e., C 8 and greater) aromatics, alkyl aromatics, cyclo-alkanes, and lightly branched iso-alkanes. The present study is concerned with the combustion of branched alkanes, specifically 2,5-dimethylhexane, which has been reported as a component of petroleum combustion exhaust, smog, and tobacco smoke [3].…”

“…The present study is concerned with the combustion of branched alkanes, specifically 2,5-dimethylhexane, which has been reported as a component of petroleum combustion exhaust, smog, and tobacco smoke [3]. Branched alkanes are important components of conventional diesel and jet fuels derived from petroleum [2,4]; synthetic Fischer-Tropsch diesel and jet fuels derived from coal, natural gas, and/or biomass [5,6]; and renewable diesel and jet fuels derived from thermochemical treatment of bio-derived fats and oils (e.g., hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) fuels) [7,8]. Detailed compositional reports by Bruno and coworkers [8,9] for turbine fuels, such as GTL, CTL, SPK, and biomass-derived fuels indicate that di-methylated alkanes represent an important fraction of the fuel composition.…”

Joint Characteristic Timescales and Entropy Production Analyses for Model Reduction of Combustion Systems

“…Although there is a substantial progress made in understanding and in development of sophisticated model reduction approaches, in applications, the mostly used methodology is still based on the concept of skeletal mechanisms [4]. This is due to the simplicity of implementation and the intuitive nature of such an approach.…”