Abstract
IN a recent paper, Bodenstein1 has propounded a theory of the slow oxidation of acetylene, which accounts extremely well for the observed2 kinetic phenomena. However, he considers the chain length to be of the order of one link, contrary to the generally accepted mechanism of hydrocarbon oxidation. That acetylene and oxygen form a reaction chain of considerable length is evident from the following experiments, carried out at 320° C. in a circulating apparatus of the same design as that described by Spence and Kistiakowsky.2 Using an unpacked pyrex glass furnace of 75 c.c. volume, with an internal diameter of 20 mm., and circulating a mixture of 276.6 mm. of acetylene and 147.2 mm. of oxygen, 51.4 mm. of acetylene reacted in one hour. When, however, a furnace packed with pyrex glass tubing of 2 mm. internal diameter and having a total free gas volume of 75 c.c. was substituted for the unpacked vessel, using the same initial amounts of acetylene and oxygen, less than 1 mm. of acetylene had reacted after one hour. Also, a much slower reaction was observed when the surface of the unpacked vessel was coated with potassium chloride.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Bodenstein, Z. ph. Chem., B, 12, 151; 1931.
Spence and Kistiakowsky, J. Am. C. S., 52, 4837; 1930.
Semenoff, Z. ph. Chem., B, 11, 464; 1931.
Bursian and Sorokin, Z. ph. Chem., B, 12, 247; 1931.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SPENCE, R. The Slow Combustion of Acetylene. Nature 128, 153 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128153a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128153a0
This article is cited by
-
Slow Combustion of Hydrocarbons
Nature (1931)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.