Radiation effect on the thermal cracking of n-hexadecane. 1: Products from radiation-thermal cracking

In order to examine the applicability of radiation technology to hydrocarbon processing, radiation-thermal cracking of n-hexadecane was carried out in the liquid and gas phases by introducing cobalt-60 γ-radiation in the temperature range of 300--400 C. The cracking process was observed to be significantly enhanced in both phases. For example, it was about 100 times faster under a dose rate of around 500 Gy/h at 330 C in the gas phase. The observed product pattern for radiation-thermal cracking was the same as that for pure thermal cracking, only dependent on the phase. Similar to pure thermal cracking, addition products and larger yields of alkanes were observed in the liquid phase, whereas no addition products but larger yields of alkenes were observed in the gas phase. In addition, a large evolution of H2 due to C-H dissociation by radiation was observed