Soot formation from C2H2 and C2H4 pyrolysis at different temperatures

A study of the pyrolysis of two hydrocarbons, C2H2 and C2H4, at different temperatures has been carried out in order to compare their behaviour in terms of soot and gas yields and gas composition. Pyrolysis experiments have been performed in the same conditions for both hydrocarbons: an inlet hydrocarbon concentration of 15,000 ppmv and a temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. For C2H2 and C2H4 pyrolysis tests, the results present the same trend when increasing the temperature: an increase in soot yield, a decrease in gas yield and a similar evolution of the outlet gases. Comparatively, it can be observed that acetylene is a more sooting hydrocarbon than ethylene for a given temperature. Additionally, the study of soot reactivity with O2 and NO shows that the soot samples obtained from ethylene show a slightly higher reactivity towards O2 and NO than the soot samples formed from acetylene.