The thermal decomposition of exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (�tricyclodecane�, TCD) is studied, a tricyclic hydrocarbon used as a missile fuel. Experiments with TCD, diluted in N2 are carried out in a tubular reactor using on-line two-dimensional gas chromatography in combination with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer for species identification and a flame-ionization detector for peak quantification resulting in total of 75 quantified components.  A comprehensive detailed kinetic model consisting of 838 unique species and some 11100 reactions is generated using RMG and validated against the experimental data.Besides small components such as methane, ethene, propene, and 1,3-cyclopentadiene, the propensity to form aromatics such as benzene, toluene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is observed at higher TCD conversion. The dedicated pyrolysis model shows good agreement for many of the major compounds while discrepancies are attributed to the absence of adequate chemistry for the formation of (poly)aromatics. An overview of the experimental findings, the performance of the model, major pathways and parameter sensitivity will be presented.

Experimental and modeling study of thermal decomposition of exo-  tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene

244th National Meeting (2012)

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