The mechanism of ethylene pyrolysis at small conversions

✍ Scribed by J. M. Roscoe; I. S. Jayaweera; A. L. Mackenzie; P. D. Pacey

• Book ID: 102653025
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 854 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0538-8066
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4601(1996)28:3<181::aid-kin4>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

Kinetic modelling is used in conjunction with measurements of product yields to develop a mechanism for the pyrolysis of ethylene at 896 K and ethylene pressures ranging from approximately 3 to 78 kPa. An induction period was observed for all products except H2. and was followed by a steady rate, which was of second-order for all products except 1.3-C4H6, the most abundant product. The mechanism quantitatively accounts for the yields of H ) , CH4. C2H6. C3H,, I-C4H8, and I.3-C4H6. The reaction is initiated by disproportionation of C Z H 4 and the product 1.3-C4H6 results from decomposition of the C4H7 radical, formed by addition of C z H l to C2H4. The other organic products that were measured are formed as a result of reactions involving the C2H5 radical. The hydrogen is produced by abstraction from C2H4 by atomic hydrogen and its rate is controlled by the reaction CzH5 -C2H4 + H which is nearly equilibrated. The main termination reaction is recombination of C2HS The auto-acceleration which is evident particularly in the yields of H2. CH4, CIH6. and C.3H(, is accounted for by the decomposition of I-C4Hx.