Energy Yields of Corona Discharge Products in a Titan's Simulated Troposphere: Effect of Corona Polarity
S.I. Ramírez, R. Navarro-González (National University of Mexico)
The corona discharge chemistry of a simulated Titan's atmosphere has been studied using a mixture of 10 % CH4 in nitrogen at 500 Torr and 293 K which was subjected to negative and positive coronas using a regulated DC power source. The analysis of the products was done by GC/FTIR/MS. The main organic gases are saturated hydrocarbons and nitriles. A large production of ethyne and ethene also occurs as previously reported by Navarro-González et al., 1997 (Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 29(1), 744). The energy deposited into the system was calculated from voltage and current oscillograms. We report here energy yields of various products at a low energy deposition.
This work was supported by grants from the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT-1843-OE9211, -F323E-9211, and -4282-E9406), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (DGAPA-IN100393, and -IN102796). One of us (S.I.R.) acknowledges a travel grant from Facultad de Química, UNAM.