Recent trends in the production, combustion and modeling of furan-based fuels

Abstract

There is growing interest in the use of furans, a class of alternative fuels derived from biomass, as transportation fuels. This paper reviews recent progress in the characterization of its combustion properties. It reviews their production processes, theoretical kinetic explorations and fundamental combustion properties. The theoretical efforts are focused on the mechanistic pathways for furan decomposition and oxidation, as well as the development of detailed chemical kinetic models. The experiments reviewed are mostly concerned with the temporal evolutions of homogeneous reactors and the propagation of laminar flames. The main thrust in homogeneous reactors is to determine global chemical time scales such as ignition delay times. Some studies have adopted a comparative approach to bring out reactivity differences. Chemical kinetic models with varying degrees of predictive success have been established. Experiments have revealed the relative behavior of their combustion. The growing body of literature in this area of combustion chemistry of alternative fuels shows a great potential for these fuels in terms of sustainable production and engine performance. However, these studies raise further questions regarding the chemical interactions of furans with other hydrocarbons. There are also open questions about the toxicity of the byproducts of combustion.