A shock tube, laser‐schlieren study of the pyrolysis of isobutene: Relaxation, incubation, and dissociation rates

Abstract

AbstractDissociation, vibrational relaxation, and unimolecular incubation have all been observed in shock waves in isobutene with the laser‐schlieren technique. Experiments covered a wide range of high‐temperature conditions: 900–2300 K, and post‐incident shock pressures from 7 to 400 torr in 2, 5, and 10% mixtures with krypton. The surprising observation is that of vibrational relaxation, well resolved over the full temperature range. The resolved process is completely exponential, with relaxation times in the range 20–120 ns atm. Relaxation and dissociation are clearly separated for T > 1850 K, with estimated incubation times near 200 ns atm. Incubation is essential for modeling of the very low‐pressure decomposition. Modeling of gradients with a chain mechanism initiated by CH fission produces an excellent fit and accurate dissociation rates that show severe falloff. A restricted‐rotor, Gorin‐model RRKM analysis fits these rates quite well with the known bond‐energy as barrier and 〈ΔE〉down = 680 cm−1. The extrapolated k∞ is log k∞(s−1) = 19.187–0.865 log T −87.337 (kcal/mol)/RT, in good agreement with previous work. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 35: 381–390, 2003