A laminar flame investigation of 2-butanone, and the combustion-related intermediates formed through its oxidation

2-Butanone (methyl ethyl ketone) is a high-octane next-generation biofuel candidate synthesized through microbiological pathways from biomass. The flame structure and species formed in 2-butanone combustion are of interest when further considering this compound for use as a fuel. Thus species profiles within a fuel-rich laminar premixed flat flame of 2-butanone were measured. Two experiments which used different facilities and measurement techniques were combined i.e. the first using electron ionization molecular-beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) and the second relied on synchrotron-generated vacuum UV photoionization MBMS. Very good agreement between both measurements was obtained. The experiments identified the formation of a number of toxic oxygenated intermediates such as methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) acetaldehyde and formaldehyde. 2- Butanone showed the lowest overall concentrations for species that could contribute to potentially hazardous volatile emissions underlining its attraction as a fuel also from this perspective.

Citation

Hemken C, Burke U, Graf I, Ruwe L, Park S, et al. (2017) A laminar flame investigation of 2-butanone, and the combustion-related intermediates formed through its oxidation. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 36: 1175–1183. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2016.06.082.

Sponsors

The authors thank Muneeb Kurshid, Sara Jo Taylor, Bin Yang, Thomas Bierkandt, Kai Moshammer and Nils Hansen of the ALS "Flame Team" for participation in the PI-MBMS measurements. The authors from the physico-chemical fundamentals of combustion (PCFC) acknowledge the support of the cluster of excellence "Tailor Made Fuels from Biomass", which is funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments to promote science and research at German universities. The Advanced Light Source is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was funded by competitive research funding awarded to the Clean Combustion Research Center.

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Journal

Proceedings of the Combustion Institute

ISSN

1540-7489

DOI

10.1016/j.proci.2016.06.082

Collections

Articles; Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division; Clean Combustion Research Center