Study on pyrolysis mechanism and kinetics of spiro 4,5 decane and spiro 5,6 dodecane

Active cooling with high-energy-density liquid hydrocarbon fuel is one of promising techniques for the thermal protection of hypersonic aircrafts. To extend the flight range and increase the payload of volume-limited aerospace vehicles, high-energy-density liquid hydrocarbon fuel is directly used as an energetic additive or liquid propellant. Among them, biomass derived spiro-fuels, shown high density, low freezing point and high net heat of combustion due to compact molecular structures, are a kind of significant high-density fuel. The investigation of thermal pyrolysis of these spiro-fuels not only significantly improves the heat sink through the endothermic reaction, but also brings the new challenges of ignition and combustion of the cracked hydrocarbon fuel. The detailed theoretical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations of spiro 4,5 decane (C₁₀H₁₈) and spiro 5,6 dodecane (C₁₂H₂₂) initial pyrolysis were performed to explore the ring-size effect on the consumption of fuels and formation of primary products. The results show that the initial decomposition paths of the two spiro-fuels are very similar, mainly consumed by the open-ring isomerization via the unimolecular C−C dissociations of the six membered ring structure and H-abstractions by small radicals attacking the fuel parents. Due to the lower C−C and C−H bond dissociation energies caused by large tension of the seven membered ring structure, C₁₂H₂₂ may exhibit the lower initial decomposition temperature and higher reaction activity than C₁₀H₁₈. The differences of simultaneously formed fuel radicals during C₁₀H₁₈ and C₁₂H₂₂ initial pyrolysis further affect the formation pathways of C1−C7 small products, cycloalkenes and monocyclic aromatics. Among them, ethylene are the most important products. Due to the presence of inherent six membered rings in two spiro-fuels, monocyclic aromatics mainly originate from multi-step dehydrogenation reactions of fuel radicals, involving benzene, toluene, styrene and ethylbenzene. Notably, the size effect of spiro-ring in two fuels leads the obvious structural differences of the formation of chain hydrocarbons and cycloalkenes. For C₁₀H₁₈, a large number of penta- cycloalkenes may be generated, including cyclopentadiene, cyclopentene, fulvene, methylcyclopentadiene and methylcyclopentene, whereas the seven-membered ring structure of C₁₂H₂₂ may produce corresponding seven-membered products (cyclohexene and methylene cycloheptane). Moreover, the pyrolysis behaviors of these two spiro-fuels at 2000 K based on the ReaxFF molecular dynamics simulation were explored and show well consistent with the main products derived from DFT theoretical calculations. This work performs the DFT theoretical calculations and ReaxFF molecular dynamics simulation on the pyrolysis kinetic mechanisms of two representative high-density biomass fuels of spiro fuels, providing a possible initial pyrolysis path and laying a theoretical foundation for their practical application in engines. However, the complex working environment of the cooling channel poses more challenges to the actual pyrolysis process of the new high-density hydrocarbon fuels. In future research, pyrolysis experiments will be conducted under high temperature and high pressure conditions, and the detailed pyrolysis kinetics models with excellent predictive performance over a wide operating range will be constructed. At the same time, research will be conducted on the subsequent ignition and combustion process of the engine combustion chamber, exploring the impact mechanism of catalysts and fuel additives on this process, assisting in the practical application of fuel, improving fuel combustion efficiency, and effectively controlling pollutant emissions.