Shock-induced C2H2 pyrolysis and CO emissivity

Citation

Hooker, William Joseph (1958) Shock-induced C2H2 pyrolysis and CO emissivity. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-10072004-144737

Abstract

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PART I: Shock Tube Studies of Acetylene Decomposition

Extensive experimental studies have been conducted on the rate of decomposition of argon-acetylene mixtures by means of shock waves. Activation energies of 26 and 33 kcal/mole, respectively, have been found for the first- and second-order decomposition reactions of acetylene.

A well defined curve of temperature versus induction time for incipient carbon formation has been established. Analysis of these data suggests that possibly a somewhat better correlation is obtained for decomposition reactions of order n=1 and n=1.5 than for n=2. The corresponding activation energies are 10, 13 and 16 kcal/mole for n= 1, 1.5 and 2, respectively.

The effects of impurity and diluent gas radiation, as well as molecular and solid particle light scattering, have been shown to have a negligibly small influence on the results. PART II: An Analysis of Equilibrium Infrared Gas Emissivities for Diatomic Molecules Based on a Just-overlapping Rotational Line Model

General equations are developed for the engineering emissivity of diatomic molecules with equally intense R- and P-branches and just-overlapping rotational line structures. Integral expressions for the emissivity are evaluated by exact numerical integration and by approximate series representations.

The results are applied to the molecules CO and [...]. Comparisons are made with emissivity predictions for the same molecules with a completely overlapped rotational line model and an isolated rotational line model. The theoretical emissivity calculations for CO are in fair accord with empirically determined estimates.

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