Gaseous combustion at high pressures. —Part X. The co-volume corrections, maximum temperatures and dissociation of steam and carbon dioxide in explosions

Abstract

During the researches upon high-pressure explosions of carbonic oxide-air, hydrogen-air, etc., mixtures, which have been described in the previous papers of this series, a mass of data has been accumulated relating to the influence of density and temperature upon the internal energy of gases and the dissociation of steam and carbon dioxide. Some time ago, at Prof. Bone’s request, the author undertook a systematic survey of the data in question, and the present paper summarises some of the principal results thereof, which it is hoped will throw light upon problems interesting alike to chemists, physicists and internal-combustion engineers. The explosion method affords the only means known at present of determining the internal energies of gases at very high temperatures, and it has been used for this purpose for upwards of 50 years. Although by no means without difficulties, arising from uncertainties of some of the assumptions upon which it is based, yet, for want of a better, its results have been generally accepted as being at least provisionally valuable. Amongst the more recent investigations which have attracted attention in this connection should be mentioned those of Pier, Bjerrum, Siegel and Fenning, all of whom worked at low or medium pressures.