Experimental and Kinetic Modeling Study of 3‑Methylheptane in a Jet-Stirred Reactor

Improving the combustion of conventional and alternative
fuels in practical applications requires the fundamental understanding
of large hydrocarbon combustion chemistry. The focus of the present
study is on a high-molecular-weight branched alkane, namely, 3-methylheptane,
oxidized in a jet-stirred reactor. This fuel, along with 2-methylheptane,
2,5-dimethylhexane, and n-octane, are candidate surrogate
components for conventional diesel fuels derived from petroleum, synthetic
Fischer–Tropsch diesel and jet fuels derived from coal, natural
gas, and/or biomass, and renewable diesel and jet fuels derived from
the thermochemical treatment of bioderived fats and oils. This study presents new experimental results
along with a low- and high-temperature chemical kinetic model for
the oxidation of 3-methylheptane. The proposed model is validated
against these new experimental data from a jet-stirred reactor operated
at 10 atm, over the temperature range of 530–1220 K, and for
equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1, and 2. Significant effort is placed
on the understanding of the effects of methyl substitution on important
combustion properties, such as fuel reactivity and species formation.
It was found that 3-methylheptane reacts more slowly than 2-methylheptane
at both low and high temperatures in the jet-stirred reactor.