An experimental and modeling study of propane oxidation kinetics in low temperature supercritical water

Propane oxidation in supercritical water was investigated at iso-thermal iso-baric conditions using a batch reactor facility. Mixtures were comprised of 0.014 % propane by volume with an equivalence ratio of 0.8 and a total density of 222 mg/mL or 610 mg/mL. Reaction times ranged from 8 to 30 min for a temperature of 375ºC at 220 or 400 bar, or 400ºC at 220 bar. Major reaction products were CO and CO₂ and minor products were propene, acetone, ethene, ethanol, methane, methanol and hydrogen. New detailed chemical kinetic models were developed by combining and refining existing models using genetic optimization. Model predictions exhibited excellent agreement with experimental observations, and indicated that rates of H-abstraction and OH addition reactions involving alkanes and alkenes are affected by the supercritical water environment. Model accuracy was highly sensitive to the rates of CH₃O₂H = CH₃O + OH and CH₃ + H₂O₂ = CH₄ + HO₂.