High-temperature carbon particle formation and decay in carbon suboxide pyrolysis behind shock waves

The formation of carbon particles following the pyrolysis of C3O2 was inves tigated behind reflected shock waves towards high temperatures. It is known that in hydrocarbon pyrolysis the temperature range for soot formation ext ends from about 1300 K to 2200 K. That holds also for C3O2. Here it could b e observed that particle formation starts again above 2300 K and increases towards a maximum at around 3000 K, falling off steeply above 3450 K. This maximum is nearly as high as that of the low "temperature particle yield cu rve" [1] at around 1600 K.