Kinetics of Decomposition of HF in Shock Waves

The decomposition of HF in HF–Ar and HF–H2–Ar mixtures was studied behind incident shock waves over the temperature range 3800° to 5300°K employing infrared emission techniques. For HF dissociation, a rate k1=1019.053T−1 exp (−134 100/RT) or, alternatively, k1=1022.710×T−2 exp (−134 100/RT) was found to best represent the experimental data; the exchange rate for H+HF was found to be k2=1013 exp (−35 000/RT); the recombination rate for H2 was best represented by k−3=1018.30T−1 (all rates are in cubic centimeter—mole units). Rates derived for H–F recombination were found to be in good numerical agreement with the theory of Benson and Fueno.