A STUDY OF ETHANE DECOMPOSITION IN A SHOCK-TUBE USING LASER-ABSORPTION OF CH3

The rate coefficient for the unimolecular reaction, C2H6 --> CH3 + CH3, was measured in reflected shock wave experiments using narrow-linewidth laser absorption of methyl radicals at 216.6 nm. The experiments were conducted in the falloff regime at the conditions 1350 to 2110 K, 0.58 to 4.4 atm, in 50 to 500 ppm C2H6/Ar and 190 PPM C2H6/N2 mixtures. At temperatures below 1500 K, the measured rate coefficients are in good agreement with the expression of Wagner and Wardlaw (1989). Above 1500 K, the measurements fall increasingly below their predictions. (C) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.