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Project Progress

Fegley’s group at Washington University in St. Louis has been working on two topics. The first topic is development of computer codes for chemical kinetic calculations in the solar nebula as a function of temperature, pressure, and mixing rate, parameterized as an eddy diffusion coefficient. Existing codes developed for similar calculations in the atmospheres of gas giant planets will be modified for this purpose. The second topic is experimental studies of the efficiency of different types of catalysts for conversion of CO + H₂ to CH₄ . The catalysts studied include pure iron, meteoritic iron alloy, an ordinary chondrite, a commercial iron oxide based catalyst, pure platinum, and pure corundum. These studies have been completed and the results are being written up for publication.