Thermal decomposition reaction and a comprehensive kinetic model of dimethyl ether

The unimolecular decomposition reaction of dimethyl ether (DME) was studied theoretically using RRKM/master equation calculations. The calculated decomposition rate is significantly different from that utilized in prior work (Fischer et al., Int J Chem Kinet 2000, 32, 713–740; Curran et al., Int J Chem Kinet 2000, 32, 741–759). DME pyrolysis experiments were performed at 980 K in a variable‐pressure flow reactor at a pressure of 10 atm, a considerably higher pressure than previous validation data. Both unimolecular decomposition and radical ion are significant in describing DME pyrolysis, and hierarchical methodology was applied to produce a comprehensive high‐temperature model for pyrolysis and oxidation that includes the new decomposition parameters and more recent small molecule/radical kinetic and thermochemical data. The high‐temperature model shows improved agreement against the new pyrolysis data and the wide range of high‐temperature oxidation data modeled in prior work, as well as new low‐pressure burner‐stabilized species profiles (Cool et al., Proc Combust Inst 2007, 31, 285–294) and laminar flame data for DME/methane mixtures (Chen et al., Proc Combust Inst 2007, 31, 1215–1222). The high‐temperature model was combined with low‐temperature oxidation chemistry (adopted from Fischer et al., Int J Chem Kinet 2000, 32, 713–740), with some modifications to several important reactions. The revised construct shows good agreement against high‐ as well as low‐temperature flow reactor and jet‐stirred reactor data, shock tube ignition delays, and laminar flame species as well as flame speed measurements. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 40: 1–18, 2008