The effects of pressure on the yields of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons produced during the supercritical pyrolysis of toluene

Elmer B. Ledesma, Mary J. Wornat, Philip G. Felton, Joseph A. Sivo

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

To better understand the reactions leading to PAH and ultimately carbonaceous solids within the context of supercritical fuel pyrolysis, the model fuel toluene was pyrolized in an isothermal silica-lined stainless steel coil reactor at 535°C, 140 sec, and 20-100 atm. The yields of benzene and 27 individual PAH increased exponentially with pressure. For 26 of these 28 products, the experimentally measured yield/pressure data conformed well to a first-order global kinetics model, permitting determination of the pre exponential factor A and the activation volume ΔV*, which appear in the pressure-dependent expression for the kinetic rate constant: k = A exp[(-ΔV*/RT)p]. The PAH yield data also revealed product yield ratios, within certain PAH isomer families, that are peculiar to the high-pressure supercritical pyrolysis environment, suggesting that mechanisms for PAH formation differed significantly from those in atmospheric-pressure gas-phase pyrolysis environments.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages84
Number of pages1
StatePublished - 2004
Event30th International Symposium on Combustion, Abstracts of Symposium Papers - Chicago, IL, United States
Duration: Jul 25 2004Jul 30 2004

Other

Other30th International Symposium on Combustion, Abstracts of Symposium Papers
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago, IL
Period7/25/047/30/04

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

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