CRITICISM OF THE “THEORY OF INCANDESCENT SURFACE IGNITION” BY Ya.B. ZELDOVICH. SELF-IGNITION OF INFINITE FUEL BY INCANDESCENT BODIES

Abstract

The basic principles of thermal explosion were studied and outlined by 1980. It seemed that fundamental research had been completed, but in 1984 A.A. Filippov discovered that the “ignition” condition obtained by Ya.B. Zeldovich did not correlate with the data of the experiment on ignition of a gas mixture by incandescent cylinders. Since Zeldovich’s “Theory of Incandescent surface ignition” has long been the basis of the ignition theory, its analysis was carried out and an error was found. It is proved that the above-mentioned work is not related to ignition, but to the self-ignition of infinite fuel. It is shown that a thermal explosion of fuel from an incandescent body can develop not only as ignition, but also as self-ignition. The conditions of self-ignition of infinite fuel by a flat surface and a cylinder are given, as well as the probable condition of ignition of fuel between parallel walls of different temperatures.