Radiation Chemical Reactions in Carbon Dioxide-Propane System Formation of Carbon Monoxide by Fission Fragments

Abstract

Radiolysis of the C0 2 -C 3 H 8 system by fission fragments (FF) was compared experi· mentally with those by r· and (n+r)-rays. Carbon monoxide formation was observed to reach maximum at 15',;' propane concentration with all three kinds of radiation. The G(CO) value was found consistently higher with FF than with r-and (n+r)-rays, whereas G(C 2 H 6 ) showed the opposite tendency in the difference between FF and the other radiations. The maximum G(CO) value obtained with FF was 6.7, while only 3.6 was attained with the other radiations.The difference between the radiolysis by FF and by the other radiations was ascribed to reactions taking place within the FF tracks. The rates of in-track reactions and the diffusion out of the tracks were estimated on the basis of Mozumder's track model. This estimation made it clear that, with the rise in the total pressure, CO formation could be expected to be enhanced by FF irradiation, with the reaction COi+e--CO+O coming to predominate over other reactions constituting the mechanism of C0 2 radiolysis.