High pressure study of n-propylbenzene oxidation

The high pressure and temperature kinetics of n-propylbenzene oxidation were investigated in the High Pressure Single Pulse Shock Tube at University of Illinois at Chicago. Experiments were performed at nominal reflected shock pressures of 25 and 50 atm, with the temperatures ranging from 838 to 1669 K and for an equivalence ratio of 0.5-1.9. A variety of stable species ranging from aliphatic hydrocarbons to single ring and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were sampled from the shock tube and analyzed using standard gas chromatographic techniques. Within the range of this experimental study, the fuel decay was seen to be insensitive to the changes in pressure. The formation of the intermediates from the fuel were influenced by the concentration of the oxidizer. A detailed chemical kinetic model was developed to simulate the stable species profiles as obtained from the high pressure oxidation experiments. The model provides a satisfactory fit for the consumption of the fuel, oxidizer and the formation of the major aliphatic, mono-aromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. (C) 2011 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.