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<p>Supercritical water gasification is
a promising waste-to-energy technology with the ability to convert aqueous
and/or heterogeneous organic feedstocks to high-value gaseous products, e.g., green
hydrogen. Reaction behavior of complex molecules in supercritical water can be
inferred through knowledge of the reaction pathways of model compounds in
supercritical water. In this study methanol, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol are
gasified in a continuous supercritical water reactor at temperatures between
500 and 560 °C, and for residence
times between 3 and 8 s. <i>In situ</i>
Raman spectroscopy is used to rapidly identify and quantify reaction products. The
experiments confirm the dominance of chain-branching, free radical reaction
mechanisms that are responsible for decomposing primary alcohols in the
supercritical water environment. Reaction pathways and mechanisms for three
alcohols are proposed, conversion metrics are presented, and results are
compared with known reaction mechanisms for methanol and ethanol oxidation.</p>
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