Ethane, dissociation pyrolysis

The reaction mechanism for this process is fairly well established and may serve as a more complex example of a chain reaction. The initiation step in ethane pyrolysis is thermal dissociation of the ethane molecule,... 

Since under pyrolysis conditions the dissociation ot the ethane molecule is largely in its first-order region, there is little doubt that reaction (1) above is first order. Reactions (6) and (7) are also first order . Reaction (8) is in its second-order region, being the reverse of the dissociation of C2H6 there is therefore little doubt that reactions (9) and (10) are also in their second-order regions. 

In one of the most elegant applications of gas-phase inhibition by nitric oxide, Birss, Danby and Hinshelwood have studied the thermal dissociation of r-butyl peroxide. The low temperatures required for pyrolysis permitted mass spectro-metric determination of t-butyl nitrite, and a fairly complete kinetic analysis of the system was possible. The rate of decomposition of peroxide was related to the consumption of nitric oxide and to the appearance of butyl nitrite during the inhibition period, and curves were obtained which showed the acetone and ethane concentrations as a function of time during and after inhibition. 

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