Initiators to promote the cracking of the endothermic hydrocarbon fuel were screened. The flow rate of gas products was measured by a water-displacement method. Triethylamine and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were found to be effective on promoting the cracking of heptane at 500～650 ℃. For the triethylamine system, the experimental yield of total gas product could be 80% higher than that calculated by neglecting the interaction between triethylamine and heptane as the mass fraction of triethylamine reached 6% at 550 ℃. The accelerating mechanism was studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It was demonstrated that the accelerating effect originated mainly from the initiative release of CH₃CH₂• from triethylamine by the scission of the C—N bond. For BHT, the initiating radicals were mainly produced by the scission of the bond between the tert-butyl carbon atom and methyl radical.

Key words: cracking, heptane, triethylamine, butylated hydroxytoluene