An experimental chemical kinetic study of the oxidation of diethyl ether in a jet-stirred reactor and comprehensive modeling

The oxidation of diethyl ether was studied experimentally in a jet-stirred reactor. Fuel-lean, stoichiometric and fuel-rich mixtures were oxidized at a constant fuel mole fraction (1000 ppm), at temperatures ranging from 450 to 1250 K, pressures of 1 and 10 atm, and constant residence time (70 and 700 ms, respectively). In total, six mixtures were tested at both pressures. Mole fraction profiles were obtained using gas chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The fuel mole fraction profiles, as well as some reaction intermediate and product profiles indicated strong low-temperature chemistry at high pressure. On the other hand, at atmospheric pressure this behavior was observed to a very small extent and only with the lean and stoichiometric mixtures. These data were compared to modeling results using literature mechanisms for diethyl ether oxidation. None of these predicted low-temperature reactivity under present conditions. Therefore, a kinetic mechanism is proposed in this study, based on recently computed kinetic parameters from literature. It shows good performances for representing the present experimental data as well as experimental data found in literature consisting of ignition delay times, laminar flame speeds and flame structure.