Abstract
Methyl decanoate (MD) is a surrogate for biodiesel fuels. According to results from detailed chemical kinetics modeling, this methyl ester shows shorter ignition delays than long alkanes such as n-heptane and n-dodecane over the whole range of initial temperature. Even at high initial temperatures without low-temperature oxidation, due to easier abstraction of an α-H atom to the carbonyl group, MDxj + O2 → MDxO2 proceeds to MDxO2 → MDxOOH2j (x = 3, m). Also, MDxj → Mymj + olefine and Mymj + O2 → MymO2 proceed to MymO2 → MymOOH2j (x = 4, 5, 6, 7, 10. y = E, P). Here, the nomenclature of species refers to the LLNL's one. These O2 addition reactions to fuel-fragment methyl-ester radicals considerably contribute to heat formation in the initial stage of ignition process, resulting in the short ignition delays.
