Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: The exact knowledge of hydrocarbon oxidation kinetics is very important due to the fact that this process is involved in many technological processes: combustion in engines and furnaces, flame synthesis of materials, partial oxidation processes in chemical technology, catalytic combustion, and exhaust gas treatment, etc. An overview is given on the present state of the art with respect to kinetic data on gas-phase and (shortly) surface oxidation of hydrocarbons. Furthermore, some applications are described in the areas mentioned above. Examples for the importance of the gas-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons are ignition and combustion in engines and furnaces and partial oxidation processes in industrial chemical reactors. In many applications, both gas-phase and surface chemistry are taking place. Examples here are flame generation of diamonds and syngas generation.