The influence of pressure on the spontaneous ignition of inflammable gas-air mixtures - IV—methane-, ethane-, and propane-air mixtures

In previous papers the results of investigations into the influence of varying initial pressures up to 15-20 atmospheres on the spontaneous ignition of mixtures with air of butane,iso -butane, pentane, and hexane were described. On the attainment of a critical pressure, which varied both with the hydrocarbon concerned and the composition of its mixture with air, the ignition points were always found to fall sharply from a higher temperature range above 500°C to a lower range at about 300°C. At pressures just exceeding the critical transition pressures ignition occurred at first only within limited temperature ranges which widened and ultimately merged with increasing pressure. The striking relationship between the behaviours of the hydrocarbons referred to under the experimental conditions and their “knocking” propensities in an engine was also indicated. While the data available were inadequate for drawing any final con­clusion as to the character of the phenomena referred to, a tentative hypothesis was advanced that while ignition in the higher temperature range pertains mainly to the thermal decomponents of intermedially formed compounds, ignition in the lower system occurs when temperature and pressure conditions favour the survival and further oxidation of such bodies, particularly aldehydes.