Comparative modelling study on the inhibiting effect of TAME, ETBE and MTBE at low temperature

The oxidation of tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME) at low temperature and low p ressure is investigated computationally in a static reactor. The results ar e compared to measurements. The observed satisfactory agreement between the model predictions and the experimental data confirms the validity of the p roposed reaction scheme. The results for TAME oxidation are related to thos e for ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), pre viously obtained in the literature. For all three ethers, it is found that their addition to n-pentane increases the induction period of the first coo l flame of the latter. The calculations indicate that the amount of alkene production which can form resonance-stabilized "dead radicals'' correlates with the efficiency of octane boosters.