Date of Graduation
Spring 2020
Degree
Master of Science in Chemistry
Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Committee Chair
Matthew Siebert
Abstract
Dependence on petroleum and petrochemical products is unsustainable as it is both a finite resource and environmentally hazardous. Biodiesel is a proposed alternative, but has complications including possessing poor cold weather operability and lacking the ability to supplement other petrochemical products (e.g., ethylene, hexane, etc.) relied upon in society. Pyrolysis of biodiesel has demonstrated the formation of smaller hydrocarbons comprising many of these petrochemical products. Our aim is to computationally simulate the pyrolysis of methyl linoleate, the most prevalent component in biodiesel formed in the US (from soybean). We make use of unimolecular direct dynamics describing intramolecular processes, introducing Temperature acceleration translated in ADMP, an ensemble of trajectories was propagated with forced derived from the D3-M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p) model chemistry. The results obtained from this investigation show significant agreement between the products computed and those obtained in experimental studies. Additional validation of this method can be seen in specific products obtained and an analysis of the CO/CO2 ratio in the product distribution.
Keywords
biodiesel, density functional theory, direct dynamics, thermal decomposition, pyrolysis, fatty-acid methyl esters, methyl linoleate, temperature-accelerated molecular dynamics
Subject Categories
Environmental Chemistry | Organic Chemistry | Physical Chemistry
Copyright
© Michael Bakker
Recommended Citation
Bakker, Michael, "Improving Biodiesel Through Pyrolysis: Direct Dynamics Investigations into Thermal Decomposition of Methyl Linoleate" (2020). MSU Graduate Theses. 3502.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3502
Open Access
