The reaction mechanism of formic acid decomposition in supercritical water was investigated theoretically at the B3LYP/6-311+g(3df
2p)level. The results show that there are several reaction channels in the decomposition of formic acid
and the channels
R〖FY1〗IM1〖FY1〗TS4〖FY1〗IM4〖FY1〗TS5〖FY1〗P1 and R〖FY1〗IM3〖FY1〗TS14〖FY1〗P2
are the main reaction channels
corresponding to decarboxylation and dehydration reactions
respectively. H
2
O takes part in the formic acid decomposition reaction as a catalyst
which lowers the energy barrier heights of both decarboxylation and dehydration reactions and accelerates the decomposition of formic acid. The rate constants of decarboxylation(k
1
)and dehydration(k
2
)were obtained using the transition state theory(TST)at the pressure of 250 MPa and in the temperature range of 700-1500 K: k
HAO Xiaohong, GUO Liejin. A review on investigation of hydrogen production by biomass catalytic gasification in supercritical water [J]. Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2002, 53(3): 221-228.
ASGHARI F S, YOSHIDA H. Acid-catalyzed production of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural from D-fructose in subcritical water [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2006, 45(7): 2163-2173.
KABYEMELA B M, ADSCHIRI T, MALALUAN R M, et al. Glucose and fructose decomposition in subcritical and supercritical water: detailed reaction pathway, mechanisms, and kinetics [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 1999, 38(8): 2888-2895.
OSADA M, WATANABE M, SUE K, et al. Water density dependence of formaldehyde reaction in supercritical water [J]. J of Supercritical Fluids, 2004, 28(2): 219-224.
OSADA M, SATO O, WATANABE M, et al. Water density effect on lignin gasification over supported noble metal catalysts in supercritical water [J]. Energy Fuels, 2006, 20(3): 930-935.
SINAG A, KRUSE A, SCHWARZKOPF V. Key compounds of the hydropyrolysis of glucose in supercritical water in the presence of K2CO3 [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2003, 42(15): 3516-3521.
YOSHIDA K, WAKAI C, MATUBAYASI N, et al. NMR spectroscopic evidence for an intermediate of formic acid in the water-gas-shift reaction [J]. J Phys Chem: A, 2004, 108(37): 7481-7482.
ZHANG Guoni, ZHANG Jun, XU Yiqian. Experimental research on formaldehyde gasification in supercritical water [J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2008, 42(3): 372-376.
YU J, SAVAGE P E. Decomposition of formic acid under hydrothermal conditions [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 1998, 37(1): 2-10.
LÜ Youjun, JI Chengmeng, GUO Liejin. Experimental investigation on hydrogen production by agricultural biomass gasification in supercritical water [J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2005, 39(3): 238-242.
MAO Xiaoan, HAO Xiaohong, GUO Liejin, et al. Experimental study of hydrogen production by cellulose gasification in supercritical water [J]. Journal of Engineering Thermophysics, 2003, 24(3): 388-390.
YAN Qiuhui, GUO Liejin, LIANG Xing, et al. Hydrogen production from co-gasification of coal and biomass in supercritical water by continuous flow thermal catalytic reaction system [J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2005, 39(5): 454-457.
KRUSE A, HENNINGSEN T, SINAG A, et al. Biomass gasification in supercritical water: influence of the dry matter content and the formation of phenols [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2003, 42(16): 3711-3717.
LEE I G, KIM M S, IHM S K. Gasification of glucose in supercritical water [J]. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2002, 41(5): 1182-1188.
CHANG J-G, CHEN H-T, XU S. Computational study on the kinetics and mechanisms for the unimolecular decomposition of formic and oxalic acids [J]. J Phys Chem: A, 2007, 111(29): 6789-6797.
LIU Pengjun, PAN Xiumei, ZHAO Min, et al. Theoretical studies on kinetics reaction for the reaction of NCS radical and NO [J]. Chemical Journal of Chinese Universities, 2004, 25(4): 685-688.