Shock-tube study of tert-butyl methyl ether pyrolysis

The high temperature pyrolysis of tert-butyl methyl ether (TBME) was studied behind reflected shock waves using single-pulse (heating time between 1.5 ms and 2.2 ms) and time-resolved IR (3.39 μ m) and UV-absorption (195 nm) methods. The studies were done using mixtures, 1.00%, 0.05%, 0.025%, 0.017% and 0.013% TBME diluted in Ar, in the temperature range 1000-1500 K at total pressures between 1.0 and 9.0 atm. From a computer-simulation study, a 56-reaction mechanism that could explain all our data was constructed. The reaction TBME →iC4H8+CH3OH and its limiting high-pressure rate constant 9.6 × 1013 exp(-59.9 kcal mol-1/RT)s-1 were found to be important for reproducing experimental results.