Kinetics and mechanisms of the thermal decomposition of propane I. The Uninhibited of reaction

Abstract

The uninhibited pyrolysis of propane was investigated from 530 to 670 °C and at pressures up to 600 mm. In an unpacked vessel the reaction was of the first order at lower temperatures and higher pressures. A transition to 3/2 order at higher temperatures and lower pressures was observed. The rates were somewhat reduced in a packed vessel, and an apparent order of 1.25 was obtained. The activation energy of the reaction in its first-order region was 67.1 kcal and that of the f-order reaction was 54.5 kcal. Added carbon dioxide had no effect on the rates either in the first-order or 3/2-order region. On the basis of this evidence, and of theoretical arguments, it is concluded that the reaction is largely homogeneous and occurs by a free-radical mechanism. The initiation reaction is considered to be the dissociation of propane into a methyl radical and an ethyl radical, this reaction being in its second-order low-pressure region under the conditions of the experiments. The termination reaction when the overall order is unity is concluded to be the recombination of a methyl and a propyl radical in the presence of a third body. In the 3/2-order region the termination reaction is believed to be the recombination of two methyl radicals, also in the third-order region. These mechanisms are shown to give a satisfactory interpretation of the overall behaviour.