Pseudo-Detailed Chemical Kinetic Modeling of Antioxidant Chemistry for Jet Fuel Applications

Chemical kinetic modeling was used to simulate the autoxidation of jet fuel including the chemistry of peroxy radical inhibiting antioxidants and hydroperoxide decomposing species. Recent experimental measurements of oxygen concentration during autoxidation of model hydrocarbon solvents were used to “calibrate” the rate parameters of the mechanism. The model showed good agreement with oxygen profiles of static measurements at 140 °C. At this temperature, the model predicts large increases in oxidation rate upon peroxy radical inhibiting antioxidant consumption to below 1 × 10 - 5 M. At 185 °C we have shown that peroxy radical inhibiting antioxidants and hydroperoxide decomposers both slow and/or delay oxidation, but the resulting oxygen profiles display different characteristics. We have shown that comparison of these profiles with fuel blending and fuel dilution measurements has the potential to differentiate between the two types of oxidation-slowing species. The modeling predicts that the presence of both types of species in a fuel results in a synergistic behavior.