Effects of Water Molecule on CO Oxidation by OH: Reaction Pathways, Kinetic Barriers, and Rate Constants

The water dilute oxy-fuel combustion is a clean combustion technology for near-zero emission power; and the presence of water molecule could have both kinetic and dynamic effects on combustion reactions. The reaction OH + CO → CO2 + H, one of the most important elementary reactions, has been investigated by extensive electronic structure calculations. And the effects of a single water molecule on CO oxidation have been studied by considering the preformed OH­(H2O) complex reacts with CO. The results show little change in the reaction pathways, but the additional water molecule actually increases the vibrationally adiabatic energy barriers (VaG). Further thermal rate constant calculations in the temperature range of 200 to 2000 K demonstrate that the total low-pressure limit rate constant for the water assisted OH­(H2O) + CO → CO2 + H2O + H reaction is 1–2 orders lower than that of the water unassisted one, which is consistent with the change of VaG. Therefore, the hydrated radical OH­(H2O) would actually slow down the oxidation of CO. Meanwhile, comparisons show that the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVDZ method gives a much better estimation in energy and thus is recommended to be employed for direct dynamics simulations.