A Well-Stirred Reactor for the Study of Pyrolysis and Oxidation Kinetics: Carbon Monoxide and n-Pentane Oxidation

Abstract

This paper describes the development of an atomospheric-pressure jet-stirred reactor which is well-stirred with respect to the starting and intermediate hydrocarbons, CO and CO₂, and thus permits the study of pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics in greater detail than has been possible in other jet-stirred reactors. In order to demonstrate the suitability of the reactor for quantitatively studying detailed reaction mechanisms, results are presented on the oxidation of CO by moist air. Also presented are results on the oxidation of n-pentane, which demonstrate the suitability of the reactor for determining overall kinetics and for studying pyrolysis and oxidation mechanisms of hydrocarbons. The reactor is fed with a single sonic jet of hot, hydrogen-air combustion products, into which the model compound of interest is injected immediately upstream of the entry of the jet into the reactor. The range of temperature in which reactor time-mean homogeneity is maintained is approximately 1000 to 1300 K. Within this range, the results for CO oxidation are in excellent agreement with predictions made with a perfectly stirred reactor model which contains a complete kinetic mechanism based on the literature. Also for this range, the overall rate of consumption of n-pentane is in good agreement with the generalized alkane consumption rate of turbulent flow reactor experiments.