310 



PEOF. W. A. BONE AND OTHERS ON 



TABLE XIV. 



PART VI. THE EXPLOSION OF ETHA.NE WITH ITS OWN VOLUME or OXGYEN. 



(With Dr. HERBERT H. HENSTOCK.) 



Owing to its crucially important bearing on the theory of hydrocarbon combustion, 

 the behaviour of an equimolecular mixture of ethane and oxygen on explosion has 

 been the subject of much investigation and discussion in recent years. 



According to the now discarded theory of a preferential burning of carbon, such a 

 mixture should, on explosion, give rise to carbon monoxide and hydrogen without any 

 separation of carbon or steam formation, in accordance with the equation, 



G a H 9 +0 3 = 2CO+3H 



2 i 



and, inasmuch as carbon monoxide and hydrogen are, to all intents and. purposes, 

 mutually inert in flames, the final result should be unaffected by variations in initial 

 pressure, or by the rate of cooling of the products for the maximum pressure of 

 explosion. 



It has, however, been shown that the behaviour of the said mixture is not at all in 

 accordance with the requirements of the theory in question, inasmuch as it always 

 gives rise on explosion to large quantities of free carbon, methane, steam, and 

 aldehydic vapours, as well as oxides of carbon and hydrogen, just as would be 

 expected from the standpoint of the hydroxylation theory, according to which there 

 would be a "non-stop" run, through C a H 5 .OH, to C 2 H 4 (OH) 2 , which would then 

 decompose, yielding first acetaldehyde and steam, the acetaldehyde then breaking 



