| Abstract: | Small low residence time flow tube reactors made of alumina and used as molecular beam sources are described. In these reactors, gas mixtures are rapidly heated and brought to reaction. The composition of the gas leaving the reactor is analyzed by molecular beam mass spectroscopy. For quantitative simulation of the reacting gas flow, the theory of one-dimensional compressible flow with friction, heat transfer, and chemical reaction is brought into a form suitable for practical computation. The system has been applied to study the thermal decompositions of O3 and N2O. The experimental results on both reactions can be well modeled by homogeneous reaction mechanisms with accepted rate constants. Heterogeneous reaction steps are shown to be unimportant. |
