High pressure, high temperature shock tube studies of ethane pyrolysis and oxidation

A unique high-pressure single pulse shock tube has been used to obtain the first experimental data for ethane oxidation and pyrolysis at very high pressures and temperatures. Experiments were performed at two nominal reaction pressures of 340 bar and 613 bar in the temperature range 1050 K to 1450 K. The major stable species were identified and their concentrations determined using gas chromatography. Several minor species, with up to four carbon atoms and including oxygenates, were also observed in the oxidation studies. Three models based on literature mechanisms for hydrocarbon oxidation were used to simulate the experimental data. All of the models simulate the pyrolysis data well although only one of the models was capable of accurately describing the oxidation data.