III. The kinetics of ignition of carbon monoxide and oxygen sensitized by hydrogen

Abstract

The results of the preceding paper have revealed that in the presence of less than 1% of hydrogen, mixtures of carbon monoxide and oxygen assume many of the characteristics of oxy-hydrogen mixtures. In both systems ignition is possible over the same range of temperatures, and in each case is confined between upper and lower pressure limits outside which the rate of reaction falls abruptly to small values. It is reasonable to suppose that the catalytic function of hydrogen is primarily to impose a branching mechanism on the carbon monoxide reaction similar to that which operates in the combustion of hydrogen is primarily to impose a branching mechanism on the carbon monoxide reaction similar to that which operates in the combustion of hydrogen itself, and that since in each case reaction will be controlled by the same elementary temperature dependent process. The object of the present work was to investigate the extent to which participation of carbon monoxide in the reaction chains alters the characteristics of the branching mechanism as revealed by a study of the upper pressure limit of ignition.