Effects of fuel additives on the thermal cracking of n-decane from reactive molecular dynamics

Thermal cracking of n-decane and n-decane in the presence of several fuel additives are studied in order to improve the rate of thermal cracking by using reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations employing the ReaxFF reactive force field. From MD simulations, we find the initiation mechanisms of pyrolysis of n-decane are mainly through two pathways: (1) the cleavage of a C-C bond to form smaller hydrocarbon radicals, and (2) the dehydrogenation reaction to form an H radical and the corresponding decyl radical. Another pathway is the H-abstraction reactions by small radicals including H, CH(3), and C(2)H(5). The basic reaction mechanisms are in good agreement with existing chemical kinetic models of thermal decomposition of n-decane. Quantum mechanical calculations of reaction enthalpies demonstrate that the H-abstraction channel is easier compared with the direct C-C or C-H bond-breaking in n-decane. The thermal cracking of n-decane with several additives is further investigated. ReaxFF MD simulations lead to reasonable Arrhenius parameters compared with experimental results based on first-order kinetic analysis. The different chemical structures of the fuel additives greatly affect the apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factors. The presence of diethyl ether (DEE), methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), 1-nitropropane (NP), 3,6,9-triethyl-3,6,9-trimethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexaoxonane (TEMPO), triethylamine (TEA), and diacetonediperodixe (DADP) exhibit remarkable promoting effect on the thermal cracking rates, compared with that of pure n-decane, in the following order: NP > TEMPO > DADP > DEE (∼MTBE) > TEA, which coincides with experimental results. These results demonstrate that reactive MD simulations can be used to screen for fuel additives and provide useful information for more comprehensive chemical kinetic model studies at the molecular level.