Shock-tube study of ethanol pyrolysis

The high temperature pyrolysis of ethanol was studied behind reflected shock waves using a single-pulse (reaction time between 0.7 and 3.9 ms), time-resolved IR-absorption (3.39 mu m) method. The studies were done using mixtures, 5.0%, 2.5% and 1.0% C2H5OH diluted with Ar, in the temperature range 1000 - 1700 K at total pressures between 1.4 and 3.6 atm. From a computer-simulation study, a 153-reaction mechanism that could explain all our data was constructed. The rate constant expressions of reactions (1) - (16) at high temperatures in the ethanol pyrolysis were discussed. It was found that, in the ethanol pyrolysis under our experimental conditions, reactions (1) and (3) played an important role as the initiation reaction, and reaction (7) was indispensable to interpret our data. C2H5OH -> CH2OH + CH3 (1) C2H5OH -> CH5 + OH (2) C2H5OH -> C2H4 + H2O (3) C2H5OH + H -> CH3CHOH + H-2 (4) C2H5OH + H -> CH2CH2OH + H-2 (5) C2H5OH + H -> CH3CH2O + H-2 (6) C2H5OH + H -> C2H5 + H2O (7) C2H5OH + CH3 -> CH3CH2OH + CH4 (8) C2H5OH + CH3 -> CH2CH2OH + CH4 (9) C2H5OH + CH3 -> CH3CH2O + CH4 (10) C2H5OH + OH -> CH3CH2OH + H2O (11) C2H5OH + OH -> CH2CH2OH + H2O (12) C2H5OH + OH -> CH3CH2O + H2O (13) CH3CHOH -> CH3CHO + H (14) CH2CH2OH -> C2H4 + OH (15) CH3CH2O -> CH3 + CH2O (16).