A study of dimethyl carbonate conversion and its impact to minimize soot and NO emissions

Fuel reformulation through the use of oxygenated compounds has been considered as an interesting option both, to reduce the harmful soot emissions and to overcome the dependence on fossil fuels, since many of them are bio-derived fuels. Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is of interest as oxygenated fuel additive since it presents a relative high oxygen content as compared with other additives and suitable characteristics to be used in combustion systems. The present work includes the analysis of different fundamental aspects of the DMC combustion process: its oxidation behavior (through experimental and computational analysis), its tendency to produce soot and the role of the NO presence in the reaction system. Experiments are performed under well controlled conditions using specifically designed flow reactor systems. Results obtained contribute to extend the available experimental database on DMC, and show the low tendency of DMC to form soot compared to other oxygenates and its capacity to contribute to NO reduction under specific fuel-rich conditions. Modeling calculations are able to reproduce reasonably well the experimental trends observed, and highlight the sensitivity of the results to the thermodynamic data of DMC and DMC derived species.