A Pressure-Dependent Detailed Chemical Kinetic Model for JP-10 Combustion

Investigations into JP-10 combustion chemistry thus far can be characterized as preliminary. The few detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms that have been published are limited in their ability to reproduce experimental data. The combustion chemistry of JP-10 is highly complex and involves hundreds if not thousands of species and thousands of chemical reactions. A detailed kinetic model capable of predicting ignition delay, heat release, and species concentrations is an important step toward understanding more complex, multidimensional phenomena such as flame-holding and extinction behavior in ramjet and scramjet applications. The proposed Phase I project will take the first steps toward developing a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for combustion and pyrolysis of JP-10. Phase I work will focus on the initial pyrolysis and oxidation reactions using high-level quantum chemistry calculations. A comprehensive mechanism will be completed in Phase II. The mechanism will be in Chemkin format and will include thermodynamic and transport properties for all species. The mechanism will be derived from fundamental thermochemical principles, without extensive tuning to match data. Adjustments to rate parameters will be limited to the uncertainties of the methods used to obtain them. Transport properties of individual species will be developed from quantum chemistry and group additivity calculations.