Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Renewable alternatives to fossil fuels are of importance nowadays since the use of fossil fuels is considered to stand for the largest contribution to global warming. In recent years, a group of cyclic ethers called furans have been proposed as potential renewable fuels. To enable evaluation of the usefulness of these compounds as fuels, it is important to understand their atmospheric chemistry since emission of fuel and its reaction products to the atmosphere is inevitable. The aim of this project is to investigate the environmental impact of the saturated compound tetrahydrofuran by determining its breakdown products and their approximate lifetimes. The study is made by analyzing experimental data for the photoreaction of tetrahydrofuran with the atmospheric oxidant Cl in a N2/O2 mixture and in pure N2, respectively. The experimental data consist of sets of infrared spectra taken continuously during the reaction. Identification of products was made by comparing reference spectra of the products with the experimental spectra. Products identified in the N2/O2 experiment were butyrolactone, propyl formate, succinaldehyde, propionaldehyde, succinic anhydride, propionic acid, formic acid, hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The product studies in the N2 experiment were more speculative due to the absence of high-resolution reference spectra. However, it is likely that a major part of the products are chlorinated molecules. Further work is necessary to determine the complete product distribution and reaction mechanisms.
Author: Ida Mexnell
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2145498981