A study of the effect of quench design on the quality of experimental kinetic data

One of the significant sources of error in the generation of kinetic data, for use in rate expression determination, is the apparatus design. In parti cular for gas-phase reactions, the design of the quench system is of key im portance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the magnitude of the effe ct of the quenching system on exit gas product distribution. Two reaction s ystems, hydrogen sulfide and ethane pyrolysis, were simulated using two dif ferent quenching systems (water cooled and air cooled). As expected, the re sidence time of the quench was found to have an effect on the exit gas dist ribution, but the temperature profile, which is often ignored, was also fou nd to have a substantial effect. These results highlight the sensitivity of reacting species to the quench and the importance of proper quench design in the design of reactor systems.