An adiabatic turbulent flow reactor was used to examine the pyrolysis of methanol in the temperature range 1070-1225 K at atmospheric pressure. Emphasis has been placed on determining the important initiation and termination steps and estimating rate constants for several reactions. A steady state treatment of the proposed 19-step mechanism yields a complex rate law for methanol decay. The roles of hydrogen as a promoter and methane as an inhibitor are accounted for in the proposed mechanism.

The kinetics of pyrolysis of dimethyl ether were studied in an adiabatic flow reactor at temperatures between 790 and 950°C. The unimolecular rate constant for the initiating step CH30CH3 = CH30 + CH, was found to be k, = 2.16 X 1015e-76.@""RTse~-1. Aspects of the kinetic mechanism are discussed and a system postulated to account for the high-temperature products.

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