Experimental Study of Tetralin Oxidation and Kinetic Modeling of Its Pyrolysis and Oxidation

Tetralin is the simplest polycyclic naphtheno-aromatic hydrocarbon found in liquid fuels (e.g., jet fuels, diesel). It is also produced by the pyrolysis and oxidation of decalin. To get a better understanding of tetralin combustion characteristics, new oxidation experiments were performed in a jet-stirred reactor, and the results are reported here. For the first time, stable species concentration profiles were measured at 1 and 10 atm over a range of equivalence ratios (phi = 0.5-1.5) and temperatures (790-1400 K). The oxidation of tetralin under these conditions was simulated using a semidetailed kinetic reaction scheme (similar to 10 000 reactions and similar to 400 species) deriving from a chemical kinetic model proposed earlier for the oxidation of decalin over a wide range of conditions (jet-stirred reactor, plug-flow reactor, and shock-tube). The proposed kinetic model shows reasonable agreement with the present measurements. It can also be used to represent tetralin pyrolysis based on a variety of results available in the literature. Sensitivity analyses and reaction pathway computations were used for rationalizing the results.