The oxidation of the novel lignocellulosic biofuel γ-valerolactone in a low pressure flame

A first oxidation study of the novel lignocellulosic biofuel γ-valerolactone (GVL) has been performed in a low pressure premixed flat flame. A stoichiometric GVL/methane flame was investigated experimentally and numerically at a pressure of 50 Torr. The measurements include flame temperatures and species concentrations. Species profiles from online gas chromatography measurements are presented for about 40 species including oxygen, hydrogen, argon, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, hydrocarbon, and oxygenated species with separated isomers. The recent kinetic model for GVL pyrolysis of De Bruycker et al. (2016) was extended for oxidation and the resulting model shows good agreement with the experimental flame data. A reaction pathway analysis was performed, which elucidates the fuel specific oxidation pathways of GVL at the investigated conditions. Additionally, an enthalpy analysis of the flame was performed highlighting the consistency of the different measurement techniques.