THE LUMINOUS MANTLE OF FUEL-RICH OXYACETYLENE FLAMES: II. FREE RADICAL AND CONTINUUM INTENSITIES, AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON C3 EMISSIONS
The spectroscopic emissions from the luminous mantle of the oxyacetylene flame have been examined over a range of burning mixtures from 2.3 to 4.2 times stoichiometric. Plots of the band-head intensities for the radicals C2, C3, CH, and CN for different burning mixtures and for vertical traverses through the flame are reported. From a study of the variation of the background continuum from 3000 Å to 5200 Å with burning mixtures, the over-all continuum may be considered to consist of (a) a black-body carbon particle continuum having an energy distribution corresponding to a temperature of 2900 ± 200° K., (b) a continuum associated with the C3 radical emissions extending from 3500 Å to 4600 Å with a maximum at 4000 Å, and (c) an ultraviolet continuum extending from below 3000 Å to 5000 Å which appears similar to the carbon-monoxide flame continuum. Within the limits of experimental error the variation of the C3 bands and their associated continuum are identical. Possible reaction mechanisms for the production of the C3 emissions are considered and they probably may be accounted for by the reaction scheme[Formula: see text]