Determination of the concentration of hydrogen atoms and methyl radicals in the zone of pyrolysis of hydrocarbons of various structures and their mixtures

A new method is proposed for the determination of the relative and absolute concentration of hydrogen atoms and methyl radicals in the zone of pyrolysis of hydrocarbons and their mixtures, based on the use of kinetic data on the pyrolysis of binary mixtures of hydrocarbons. It was shown that the concentrations of hydrogen atoms in the zone of pyrolysis of ethane, propane, pentane, and hexane differ little and are approx. 3, 7, 20, and 50 times as great as the concentration of hydrogen atoms formed in the pyrolysis of cyclopentane, cyclohexane, isobutylene, and propylene. The concentrations of methyl radicals in the pyrolysis of propane, pentane, and hexane are 20 to 30 times as great as in the pyrolysis of ethane and 50 to 100 times as great as in the pyrolysis of cyclopentane and cyclohexane. The effects of inhibition and initiation in the pyrolysis of mixtures of hydrocarbons are determined chiefly by the ratio of the concentrations of unstable particles in the zone of pyrolysis of the individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures. 4 tables.