Numerical Study on Flame Stabilization and NO x Formation in a Novel Burner System for Sulfur Combustion.

Numerical simulations have been conducted for a novel double-concentric swirl burner, which is specifically designed for combustion of sulfur with a high power density. The burner serves as a major component of an enclosed conversion cycle, which uses elemental sulfur as a carbon-free chemical energy carrier for storing solar energy. The focus of the work is to assess operability of the burner and NO x formation at fuel-lean conditions with an equivalence ratio of ϕ = 0.5, which is crucial regarding flame stabilization and evaporation. To quantitatively evaluate the NO x formation, a new reaction mechanism for sulfur combustion along with S/N/O and NO x reactions has been developed and used for the simulation. In comparison to our previous simulations using a higher ϕ, the flame is lifted slightly and the overall flame temperature is lowered in the current case, leading to a weakened evaporation performance. Accordingly, an increased share of sulfur droplets hitting the chamber wall and escaping the domain has been confirmed. The local NO x share has been shown to increase strongly with the flame temperature from a threshold value of approximately 1600 K. In addition, the NO x formation from the burner setup with a high swirl intensity (HSI) has been shown to be 2 times higher than that with a low swirl intensity (LSI). This is attributed to a higher flame temperature and longer residence time caused by a strong inner recirculation flow. However, the HSI setup yields a better evaporation performance and a reinforced flame stabilization. The results reveal a trade-off for operating the sulfur burner with different burner designs and equivalence ratios.

Thermochemistry and reaction paths in the oxidation reaction of benzoyl radical: C6H5C•(═O).

Alkyl substituted aromatics are present in fuels and in the environment because they are major intermediates in the oxidation or combustion of gasoline, jet, and other engine fuels. The major reaction pathways for oxidation of this class of molecules is through loss of a benzyl hydrogen atom on the alkyl group via abstraction reactions. One of the major intermediates in the combustion and atmospheric oxidation of the benzyl radicals is benzaldehyde, which rapidly loses the weakly bound aldehydic hydrogen to form a resonance stabilized benzoyl radical (C6H5C(•)═O). A detailed study of the thermochemistry of intermediates and the oxidation reaction paths of the benzoyl radical with dioxygen is presented in this study. Structures and enthalpies of formation for important stable species, intermediate radicals, and transition state structures resulting from the benzoyl radical +O2 association reaction are reported along with reaction paths and barriers. Enthalpies, ΔfH298(0), are calculated using ab initio (G3MP2B3) and density functional (DFT at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)) calculations, group additivity (GA), and literature data. Bond energies on the benzoyl and benzoyl-peroxy systems are also reported and compared to hydrocarbon systems. The reaction of benzoyl with O2 has a number of low energy reaction channels that are not currently considered in either atmospheric chemistry or combustion models. The reaction paths include exothermic, chain branching reactions to a number of unsaturated oxygenated hydrocarbon intermediates along with formation of CO2. The initial reaction of the C6H5C(•)═O radical with O2 forms a chemically activated benzoyl peroxy radical with 37 kcal mol(-1) internal energy; this is significantly more energy than the 21 kcal mol(-1) involved in the benzyl or allyl + O2 systems. This deeper well results in a number of chemical activation reaction paths, leading to highly exothermic reactions to phenoxy radical + CO2 products.

Thermodynamic and ab initio analysis of the controversial enthalpy of formation of formaldehyde.

There are two values, -26.0 and -27.7 kcal mol(-1), that are routinely reported in literature evaluations for the standard enthalpy of formation, Delta(f) H(o)(298), of formaldehyde (CH(2)=O), where error limits are less than the difference in values. In this study, we summarize the reported literature for formaldehyde enthalpy values based on evaluated measurements and on computational studies. Using experimental reaction enthalpies for a series of reactions involving formaldehyde, in conjunction with known enthalpies of formation, its enthalpy is determined to be -26.05+/-0.42 kcal mol(-1), which we believe is the most accurate enthalpy currently available. For the same reaction series, the reaction enthalpies are evaluated using six computational methods: CBS-Q, CBS-Q//B3, CBS-APNO, G2, G3, and G3B3 yield Delta(f) H(o)(298)=-25.90+/-1.17 kcal mol(-1), which is in good agreement to our experimentally derived result. Furthermore, the computational chemistry methods G3, G3MP2B3, CCSD/6-311+G(2df,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d), CCSD(T)/6-311+G(2df,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d), and CBS-APNO in conjunction with isodesmic and homodesmic reactions are used to determine Delta(f) H(o)(298). Results from a series of five work reactions at the higher levels of calculation are -26.30+/-0.39 kcal mol(-1) with G3, -26.45+/-0.38 kcal mol(-1) with G3MP2B3, -26.09+/-0.37 kcal mol(-1) with CBS-APNO, -26.19+/-0.48 kcal mol(-1) with CCSD, and -26.16+/-0.58 kcal mol(-1) with CCSD(T). Results from heat of atomization calculations using seven accurate ab initio methods yields an enthalpy value of -26.82+/-0.99 kcal mol(-1). The results using isodesmic reactions are found to give enthalpies more accurate than both other computational approaches and are of similar accuracy to atomization enthalpy calculations derived from computationally intensive W1 and CBS-APNO methods. Overall, our most accurate calculations provide an enthalpy of formation in the range of -26.2 to -26.7 kcal mol(-1), which is within computational error of the suggested experimental value. The relative merits of each of the three computational methods are discussed and depend upon the accuracy of experimental enthalpies of formation required in the calculations and the importance of systematic computational errors in the work reaction. Our results also calculate Delta(f) H(o)(298) for the formyl anion (HCO(-)) as 1.28+/-0.43 kcal mol(-1).