Inhibition of the First Limit of the Hydrogen-Oxygen Reaction by Ethane

A STUDY of the inhibiting action of ethane on the second limit of the hydrogen–oxygen reaction in vessels coated with potassium chloride 1 shows that the main features of the inhibition are essentially similar to those reported for propane 2 . The reduction in explosion pressure with increasing mole fraction of ethane is almost exactly linear, and the quantity of inhibitor ( i 1/2 ) required to halve the explosion pressure is approximately proportional to the mole fraction of oxygen, and approximately independent of the mole fraction of hydrogen, vessel diameter, and vessel surface. As in the case of propane, these main facts can be explained by introducing a termination reaction between hydrogen atoms and the hydrocarbon into the accepted mechanism for the uninhibited second limit 3 , when the relation obtained is: where y is the mole fraction of oxygen, and k 1 , k 2 are the velocity constants of reactions (1) and (2):