Fundamental studies of fuel chemistry as related to internal combustion engine phenomena. Technical progress report, July 1, 1988--June 30, 1989

The present research effort was initiated with the intent of providing substantially improved insights (through homogeneous gas phase kinetic studies at different constant pressures) to the fuel chemistry issues important to autoignition in engines. The conditions of the proposed experiments were chosen to represent those similar to the engine parameters under knocking conditions: temperatures in the range of 700--1,100K, pressures from one to approximately 20 atmospheres and stoichiometries around one. A major part of the proposed research has been to design and construct a variable pressure flow reactor facility in which a range of reaction pressures, and in fact, lower reaction temperatures could be accessed. The reactor facility design and construction are nearly complete, and initial testing has begun to compare the overall experimental operating characteristics of the reactor with the design parameters. Experiments on Isobutene/oxygen mixtures have also been conducted in the existing atmospheric pressure flow reactor at about 1,150 K and in an equivalence ratio range of pyrolysis with about 100 ppm oxygen background to 0.42. A detailed kinetic model has been developed to interpret the pyrolysis and oxidation characteristics. 89 refs.