Abstract
Not the least important factors affecting the utilization of gaseous fuels are the remarkable effects of small quantities of catalytic substances, the presence of which may initiate or entirely change the nature of a combustion process. A proper understanding of these factors is therefore of great importance in the control of processes which are fundamental to many parts of applied chemistry. Such processes, however, are also intrinsically interesting for the insight they give into the ultimate mechanism of chemical reaction, and as a result of their study in the light of the theory of chain reactions, many empirical facts relating to combustion processes which previously were obscure now acquire a new significance. Of all these reactions the combustion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide stand in a unique position, for these substances more than any others occur as intermediaries in the burning of gaseous fuels; it is therefore of special interest to realize that the presence of traces of hydrogen may have a profound effect on the combustion of carbon monoxide, not only in lowering the temperature of ignition, but also in influencing the rate of propagation of the flame. This becomes of particular importance when it is remembered that carbon monoxide as used industrially nearly always contains traces of hydrogen.
Highlights
The first, which may be described as the “ withdrawal” method, depended upon the fact th at a mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen sensitized with hydrogen could be introduced into the reaction vessel with out inflammation occurring, provided th at a sufficiently high pressure of pure gases was first established there
The upper pressure limit the reaction rate falls abruptly to values which are very small below 540° C., but which a t higher tem peratures, even in vessels poisoned by treatm ent with potassium chloride, constitute a source of error by altering the composition of the mixtures in the reaction vessel during the time allowed for the attainm ent of uniform composition
In extending the research of other workers on the catalytic influence of hydrogen on the oxidation of carbon monoxide, it has been found that ignition in mixtures containing hydrogen occurs at temperatures more than 150° C. below those of the pure gases, and is attended by complete com bustion when the concentration of hydrogen exceeds about 0*5 %
Summary
The first, which may be described as the “ withdrawal” method, depended upon the fact th at a mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen sensitized with hydrogen could be introduced into the reaction vessel with out inflammation occurring, provided th at a sufficiently high pressure of pure gases was first established there. Such mixtures were stable above 200 mm.
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