Kinetics of the nonisothermal pyrolysis of propane

A method was devised to yield chemical reaction kinetic parameters from nonisothermal, nonisobaric flow experiments. The system studied was the pyrolysis of propane at high temperatures (800° to 1,000°C.). At these temperatures the rates of the various reactions are so high that a batch or even an isothermal flow experiment is impossible. To keep the conversions low so that the initial stages of decomposition could be studied, the feed gas was diluted with varying amounts of nitrogen. Residence times in the reactor were in the millisecond range. The reactor exit gas was analyzed by mass spectrometry. The method developed in this work is not limited to simple kinetic studies, but can be useful in complicated series and parallel reactions which often require nonisothermal conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37347/1/690130127_ftp.pd