Bayesian Optimized Oscillating Electric Heating of Dicyclopentadiene and Norbornene for Fuel Production

Tetracyclo[6,2,1,01,7,13,6]dodecene (TCD) is conventionally synthesized by continuous heating of norbornene (NBE) and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), in which the synthesis rate and isomer selectivity are hardly improved under such near equilibrium conditions. In this study, an alternative thermochemical synthesis technique using direct electric heating is present. Alternate heating and cooling of the reaction mixture can be rapidly realized by programmable electric current flowing in the reactor tube. The reaction has been switched in a timely fashion between high temperature and low temperature at a given speed. At a high temperature, the active intermediate of cyclopentadiene (CPD) quickly forms. Rapid cooling ensures the nonequilibrium kinetic control of CPD copolymerization for increasing the selectivity. The energy cost is reduced by lowering the average temperature. As optimized by the Bayesian method, the operating conditions of oscillating heating (e.g., amplitude, frequency, pressure, and so on) are determined to precisely match the time scales of fast generation and directed consumption of CPD. The oscillating heating method leads to a high yield of endo,exo-TCD (62.4% versus 11.6% by the conventional continuous-heating method). High-energy-density fuels with good low-temperature fluidity are prepared using hydrogenated TCD as the key component.