Experimental and Modeling Study of the Combustion of Synthetic Jet Fuels: Naphtenic Cut and Blend With a GtL Jet Fuel

Research on the production and combustion of synthetic jet fuels has recently gained importance because of their potential for addressing security of supply and sustainable air transportation challenges. The combustion of a 100% naphtenic cut that fits with typical chemical composition of products coming from biomass or coal liquefaction (C_12.64H_23.64; M=175.32 g.mol⁻¹; H/C=1.87; DCN=39; density=863.1 g.L⁻¹) and a 50% vol. mixture with Gas to Liquid from Shell (mixture: C_11.54H_23.35; M=161.83 g.mol⁻¹; H/C=2.02; DCN=46; density=800.3 g.L⁻¹) were studied in a jetstirred reactor under the same conditions (temperature, 550–1150 K; pressure, 10 bar; equivalence ratio, 0.5, 1, and 2; initial fuel concentration, 1000 ppm). Surrogate model-fuels were designed based on fuel composition and properties for simulating the kinetics of oxidation of these fuels. We used new model-fuels consisting of mixtures of n-decane, decalin, tetralin, 2-methylheptane, 3-methylheptane, n-propyl cyclohexane, and n-propylbenzene. The detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism proposed was validated using the entire experimental database obtained in the present work and for the oxidation of pure GtL, we used previous results. Kinetic computations involving reaction paths analyses and sensitivity analyses were used to interpret the results.