Abstract
Chemical kinetic modeling of autoignition of practical fuels in internal combustion engines has made great advances in recent years. Practical transportation fuels are usually mixtures of very complicated, large fuel molecules which require extremely complex reaction mechanisms, and autoignition of these fuels is perhaps the most difficult and challenging problem to simulate. The kinetic reaction mechanism must be correct in both the low temperature and high temperature regimes, and these problems cover wide ranges of pressure, temperature, and fuel/air equivalence ratios. They also include some fascinating puzzles in kinetic theory and theoretical chemistry. The present paper describes recent progress in building kinetic models for reference fuels and other components of practical transportation fuels.
