A Thermal Model of Wire Explosions in Methane

Abstract

Explosions of various metals into methane were used to develop a thermal model for the interaction of exploding wires with this hydrocarbon. This model has wider implications that are useful in predicting the behavior toward exploding wires of other gases whose endothermic pyrolyses can be initiated by this technique. Calorimetry, product analysis, and thermodynamic calculations were used to develop the model. The paper describes the role of the exploding wire in transferring energy from the capacitors to the surrounding gas, the determination of the efficiency of the energy transfer process, and the indirect measurement of the temperatures at which the principal chemical reactions occurred, as well as the temperature distributions in the overall surrounding gas. It is shown that the process is remarkably efficient in abstracting energy from the wire explosion to effect high temperature pyrolyses, and that the major reaction forming acetylene, hydrogen, and solids occurs in a narrow zone of very high temperature, while most of the surrounding gas is relatively cold.