Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

PP-30QUANTUM-CHEMICAL RESEARCH OF CATALYTIC COMBUSTIONKukueva V.Fire Safety Academy, Cherkassy, Ukraine, kukueva@yahoo.comThe conventional energy sources like fossil fuels, crude oil, natural gas etc. aredwindling fast. The world stock of non-renewable natural sources indeed havedecreased. There is every necessity of going for renewable alternative resources forenergy. The energy crisis of 1973 left scientists to accelerate the renewable energyprogrammes.In 2007, more than $100 billion was invested in new renewable energy capacity,manufacturing plants, and research and development – a true global milestone. Yetperceptions lag behind the reality of renewable energy because change has been sorapid in recent years. In many developing countries wood has been used as a fuel.The situation is growing so desperate that wood is poached from forest reserves. Asa result the ecosystem is degrading deplorably. So, in order to protect the naturalenvironment, there is every necessity of producing alternative source of energy forthe needs of the people. Biomass is the best alternative as it is available in plentyand production of energy from biomass is also less costly. The simple act of burningbiomass to obtain heat, and often light, is one of the oldest biomass conversionprocesses known to mankind. The basic stoichoimetric equation for the combustionof wood, represented by the empirical formula of cellulose, (C 6 H 5 O 5 ) n . Carbon dioxide(CO 2 ) and water are the final products along with energy. If most biomass did notsustain its own combustion to make heat readily available in preindustrial times whenand where it was needed, our historical development would not have reached itspresent state. The science of combustion has advanced a great deal since then andimproved our understanding of the chemical mechanisms involved. There is alsocontinued interest in developing a better understanding of the oxidation ofhydrocarbon fuels over a wide range of operating conditions in order to increaseefficiency and to reduce the emission of pollutant species. Thus, the development ofa detailed kinetic mechanism for hydrocarbon oxidation necessary begins with ahydrogen/oxygen sub mechanism, which could be achieved by the quantumchemicalresearch, including the cases when additional substances can promote thecombustion processes.119