Chemical kinetic modeling of jet fuel autoxidation and antioxidant chemistry

Chemical kinetic modeling has been performed in order to simulate the chemical processes that occur during the autoxidation of jet fuels at temperatures near 200[degree] C. Rate parameters are estimated for the elementary reactions that comprise the mechanism. The mechanism used treats the fuel and antioxidant species as single compounds. The model is able to reproduce the autoxidation chain mechanism that is responsible for oxygen removal in the fuel. The inhibition of oxygen removal by antioxidants is reproduced successfully by the model. Also, the model predicts that the thermal decomposition of alkyl hydroperoxides, even at very small conversions, can play a crucial role in the oxidation mechanism.