Theoretical and experimental study on the inhibition of jet fuel oxidation by diarylamine

Antioxidants addition is believed as a facile and effective way to improve jet fuel thermal oxidation stability. However, amine antioxidants, as one of the most important antioxidants, have not received sufficient attention in the field of jet fuel autoxidation yet. Herein, the inhibition efficiency and mechanism of decane and exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (THDCPD) oxidation by di-4-tert-butylphenylamine (diarylamine) was experimentally and theoretically investigated. The results show that diarylamine can significantly inhibit decane oxidation but is less efficient for THDCPD oxidation, which is attributed to the higher energy barrier of retro-carbonyl-ene reaction (rate-determining step) in THDCPD than that in decane during diarylamine regeneration. However, the addition of diarylamine will cause undesirable color change after accelerated oxidation and produce slightly more deposits during high-temperature thermal oxidative stress for both decane and THDCPD. The results provide significant implications for the future design of effective antioxidant additives for high-performance jet fuel. (C) 2022 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.