This work investigated the effect of oxygen concentrations in the reactor on the partial oxidation of JP8 under the distributed reaction condition. Reforming efficiency as high as 74% was achieved; syngas composition consisted of 20.7 to 22.3% hydrogen and 20.2 to 21.5% carbon monoxide.
Reformate product distribution and quality was found to depend on the reactor oxygen concentrations and, to a lesser extent on flame regime. Previous works operating at similar conditions found that higher reformate quality was associated with the more distributed reactor conditions. An increase in reactor oxygen concentrations fostered a more rapid chemical reaction, which shortened chemical time and length scales. While this resulted in a less distributed reactor, the potential decrease in reformate quality was offset by the increased availability of oxygen. As the reactions were limited by the availability of oxygen, the addition of oxygen enhanced the extent of reforming reactions, to promote increased conversion and reforming efficiency.
