Kinetic study of methyl oleate oxidation using a semi-detailed mechanism

Paper in proceeding, 2012

Methyl oleate is a long chain methyl ester and a major constituent of rapeseed-oil derived biodiesel. A detailed mechanism for its combustion was recently developed by Westbrook and co-workers. This master mechanism involves 5037 species and 19990 reactions, which makes it too complex for direct use in computational fluid dynamics. In the present work, various mechanism reduction methods were used to derive a skeletal biodiesel combustion mechanism that retains the key properties of the master mechanism (auto-ignition behavior, fuel conversion rate) and generates similar concentration profiles for intermediate species. This skeletal mechanism containing only 442 species was applied to study the methyl oleate oxidation in an opposed-flow diffusion flame and the combustion phasing under the diesel engine conditions. The skeletal mechanism was proved to be the efficient and accurate representation of actual biodiesel combustion and emissions formation.