A combustion chemistry study of tetramethylethylene in a laminar premixed low-pressure hydrogen flame

Abstract

The combustion chemistry of tetramethylethylene (TME) was studied in a premixed laminar low-pressure hydrogen flame by combined photoionization molecular-beam mass spectrometry (PI-MBMS) and photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland. This hexene isomer with the chemical formula C6H12 has a special structure with only allylic CH bonds. Several combustion intermediate species were identified by their photoionization and threshold photoelectron spectra, respectively. The experimental mole fraction profiles were compared to modeling results from a recently published kinetic reaction mechanism that includes a TME sub-mechanism to describe the TME/H2 flame structure. The first stable intermediate species formed early in the flame front during the combustion of TME are 2-methyl-2-butene (C5H10) at a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 70, 2,3-dimethylbutane (C6H14) at m/z 86, and 3-methyl-1,2-butadiene (C5H8) at m/z 68. Isobutene (C4H8) is also a dominant intermediate in the combustion of TME and results from consumption of 2-methyl-2-butene. In addition to these hydrocarbons, some oxygenated species are formed due to low-temperature combustion chemistry in the consumption pathway of TME under the investigated flame conditions.