numbers of studies were performed until very recently on the fundamental oxidation reaction mechanism of hydrogen sulfide and related H 9 S 9 O reaction systems.The oxidation process of H 2 S (and some times the catalytic effect of SO 2 ) have been investigated in several flame studies [1 -5], and the reaction mechanisms were discussed based on the measured product distributions. These studies have provided much useful information on the elementary reactions of H 9 S 9 O systems, however, it is generally very difficult to judge the reliability of kinetic/thermodynamic parameters of individual elementary reactions proposed in these indirect studies. It is also noted that even a conventional shock tube study was not performed for clarifying oxidation mechanism of H 2 S (as far as we know), except an ignition delay mea-
INTRODUCTIONThe oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in combustion of fossil fuels and the consecutive atmospheric processes of sulfur oxides are creating serious pollution problems on a global scale.Many practical studies for reducing SO x in combustion systems have been conducted from the engineering point of view. In contrast, only very limited (1), the rate constants evaluated by numerical simulations are summarized as; k 1 ϭ 3.1 ϫ 10 Ϫ11 exp[Ϫ 75 kJ mol Ϫ1 /RT ] cm 3 molecule Ϫ1 s Ϫ1 (T ϭ 1400 -1850 K) with an uncertainty factor of about 2. Direct measurements of the rate constants for S ϩ O2 : SO ϩ O (2), and SO ϩ O 2 : SO 2 ϩ O (3) yield k 2 ϭ (2.5 Ϯ 0.6) ϫ 10 Ϫ11 exp[Ϫ(15.3 Ϯ 2.5) kJ mol Ϫ1 /RT ] cm 3 molecule Ϫ1 s Ϫ1 (T ϭ 980 -1610 K) and, k 3 ϭ (1.7 Ϯ 0.9) ϫ 10 Ϫ12 exp[Ϫ(34 Ϯ 11) kJ mol Ϫ1 /RT ] cm 3 molecule Ϫ1 s Ϫ1 (T ϭ 1130 -1640 K), respectively. By summarizing these data together with the recent experimental results on the H 9 S 9 O reaction systems, a new kinetic model for the H 2 S oxidation process is constructed. It is found that this simple reaction scheme is consistent with the experimental result on the induction time of SO 2 formation obtained by Bradley and Dobson.