JP-10 combustion studied with shock tube experiments and modeled with automatic reaction mechanism generation

Abstract

This work presents shock tube experiments and kinetic modeling efforts on the pyrolysis and combustion of JP-10. The experiments were performed at 6–8 atm using 2000 ppm of JP-10 over a temperature range of 1000–1600 K for pyrolysis and oxidation equivalence ratios from 0.14 to 1.0. This work distinguishes itself from previous studies as GC/MS was used to identify and quantify the products within the shocked samples, enabling the tracking of product yield dependence on equivalence ratio as well as identifying several new intermediates that form during JP-10’s decomposition. A detailed, comprehensive model of JP-10’s combustion and pyrolysis kinetics was constructed with the help of RMG, an open-source reaction mechanism generation software package. The resulting model, which includes 691 species reacting in 15,518 reactions, was extensively validated against the shock tube experimental dataset as well as newly published flow tube pyrolysis data from Ghent. Most of the important rate coefficients were computed using quantum chemistry. The model succeeds in identifying all major pyrolysis and combustion products and captures key trends in the product distribution. Simulated ignition delays agree within a factor of 4 with most experimental ignition delay data gathered from literature. The presented experimental work and modeling efforts yield new insights on JP-10’s complex decomposition and oxidation chemistry and identify key pathways towards aromatics formation.