Characterization of ethyl valerate combustion by analyzing low pressure flames
(2016)
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- Abstract
- Climate change and the increasing demand for energy are important challenges of this century. Associated issues such as urban pollution due to automotive applications are also a major concern. To mitigate the impacts of our energy usage, a new mix based on renewable energies, including a substantial contribution from biomass, is required. Biofuels can be produced from biomass via biochemical and thermochemical processes. Valerate esters are synthetized from lignocellulose through hydrolysis, hydrogenation and esterification reactions. These biofuels present similar properties with the traditional fuels such as gasoline and diesel. They can be blended with them or fully substituted. Among these esters, methyl and ethyl valerates can be used in spark ignition engines thanks to their physicochemical properties. However, the formation of pollutants such as aldehydes (acetaldehyde and formaldehyde) is a disadvantage for its automotive applications. In this work, ethyl valerate, also called “ethyl pentanoate”, is studied. The understanding of its detailed combustion chemistry is crucial to control the pollutant formation. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the flame structure of ethyl valerate at low pressure and for three equivalence ratios. Three premixed, laminar and one dimensional flames are stabilized on a Spalding-Botha burner. Gas chromatography is used to separate and to identify the reactants, the products and the intermediate species produced during this ester combustion. A new kinetic model named “Katshiatshia mechanism” is elaborated, tested and validated using the experimental data. This new detailed kinetic model is also assessed using experimental data of ethyl valerate laminar burning velocities (from Lund University) and using jet-stirred reactor experiments at high pressure (from the Université d’Orléans). The simulation results agree well with the jet-stirred reactor experimental results. For the laminar burning velocities, the kinetic model slightly overestimates the experimental data. The mechanism has to be further improved to extend its reliability at atmospheric and high pressures.
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Citations
Mbuyi Katshiatshia, H. (2016). Characterization of ethyl valerate combustion by analyzing low pressure flames. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/182954