MINOR PRODUCTS AND INITIATION RATE IN THE CHAIN PYROLYSIS OF PROPANE

With a continuous jet-stirred tank reactor operating at small space time (0.05–1.2 s) the kinetics of the formation of six minor products (ethane, isobutane, butene-1, 2,3-dimethyl-butane, 4-methylpentene-1, and 1,5-hexadiene) are studied during the pyrolysis of propane, at small extents of reaction and over the temperature range of 600–780°C. The experimental results are in agreement with the free radical mechanism proposed by Jezequel, Baronnet, and Niclause for this reaction. They show that the two most important termination processes are The measured rates of formation of the minor products are consistent with the quasi-identical values estimated by Jezequel and co-workers (between 475 and 505°C) and by Allara and Edelson (between 510 and 560°C) for kinetic parameters (A1 ≃ 1016.65 s−1 and E1 ≃ 84.7 kcal/mole) of the chain initiation process