Understanding the key elements of biofuel combustion¹（燃烧，氧化） is an important step toward insightful（有深刻见解的） selection of next-generation alternative fuels. And that's exactly what Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories researchers intend to do.

In a new paper on the cover of the May 10 edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie, Sandia researcher Nils Hansen and Lawrence Livermore scientist Charles Westbrook take a look at the vastly diverse and complex chemical reaction networks of biofuel combustion.

The paper, "Biofuel Combustion Chemistry: From Ethanol（乙醇，酒精） to Biodiesel（生物柴油） ," examines the combustion chemistry of those compounds that constitute typical biofuels, including alcohols, ethers（乙醚） and esters（酯类） .

Biofuels such as bioethanol（生物酒精） , biobutanol（生物丁醇） and biodiesel are of increasing interest as alternatives to petroleum-based transportation fuels. According to Hansen and Westbrook, however, little research has been done on the vastly diverse and complex chemical reaction networks of biofuel combustion.

In general, the term biofuel is associated with only a few select chemical compounds, especially ethanol (used exclusively as a gasoline（汽油） replacement³ in spark-ignition engines) and very large methyl esters in biodiesel (used as a diesel²柴油机 fuel replacement in diesel engines). The biofuels are oxygenated（充氧的） fuels, which distinguishes（辨别，区分） them from hydrocarbons⁴（氢氧化合物） in conventional petroleum-based fuels.

While much discussion surrounding biofuels has emphasized the process to make these alternative fuels and fuel additives⁵（添加剂） , Hansen and Westbrook for the first time examined the characteristic aspects of the chemical pathways in the combustion of potential biofuels.

In collaboration⁶ with an international research team representing Germany, China and the United States, Westbrook, Hansen and former Sandia post-doctoral student Tina Kasper used a unique combination of laser spectroscopy（光谱学） , mass spectrometry（质谱分析法） and flame chemistry modeling to explore the decomposition⁷（分解，腐烂） and oxidation mechanisms⁸ of certain biofuels and the formation of harmful or toxic⁹ emissions¹⁰.

"To understand the associated combustion reactions and to identify recurring¹¹ reaction patterns, it is important to study prototypical variants¹² of potential biofuels," Westbrook said.