Detailed combustion kinetics of cyclopentadiene studied in a shock-tube

Mixtures of cyclopentadiene and oxygen diluted in argon were used to obtain ignition delay data in a single pulse shock-tube. The temperatures ranged from 1278-2110 K and the experimental pressures were between 2.43 and 12.45 atm. The fuel concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 2.5% and the oxygen concentrations were between 3.3 and 16.6%. A Semenov ignition delay expression was determined: tau = 10(-12.5) exp(+34500/RT) [C5H6](0.06) [O-2](-0.95) [Ar](0.29) sec The concentrations are in mol/cc and the activation energy is in cal/mol. Gas-chromatographic analyses were run on samples quenched before the ignition. The kinetics of combustion of cyclopentadiene was modeled with a full scheme containing 439 elementary reactions and a reduced scheme containing 125 reactions. Both ignition delay times and product distribution served as modeling targets. The mechanism of combustion of cyclopentadiene is discussed in connection to the combustion of aromatic fuels. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons.