| Abstract: | Previous experimentation on the initial stages of the oxygen-ethane reaction at temperatures near 600°C demonstrated the existence of a significant induction period under homogeneous conditions. Below 0.13% conversion, the rate with oxygen is less than the rate of ethane pyrolysis in the absence of oxygen. Experiments were conducted with mixtures of ～1% ethane and ～0.4% oxygen in nitrogen using the “wall-less” technique. Mathematical simulations of the oxidative and simple pyrolyses of ethane were established by a numerical analysis. The experimentally observed induction period and the mechanisms previously proposed are supported by these computations. Steady-state conditions are much more slowly attained in the presence of oxygen than in its absence. |
