Laser absorption study of the N2+ O → NO + N and NO + O → O2+ N Zeldovich reactions in shock-heated N2O mixtures

Abstract

The fast decomposition of nitrous oxide (N2O) into molecular nitrogen (N2) and atomic oxygen (O) was leveraged to probe the N2 + O and NO + O Zeldovich reactions behind reflected shocks in experiments spanning 2000–6800 K and 0.04–1.67 atm in 1% and 5% N2O diluted in either argon (Ar) or N2, respectively. One infrared (IR) and two ultraviolet (UV) laser absorption diagnostic systems probed N2O and NO. The IR laser system probed N2O in isolation, while the two UV laser systems probed a combination of N2O, NO, and O2 using an online/offline method. The resulting absorbance time-histories were used to infer the NO rotational temperature and the number densities of N2O and NO. The number density time-histories were used to infer (1) the N2O dissociation rate to form N2 and O ( k d N 2 O − [ M ]), (2) the reaction rate of N2O and O to form two NO ( k d N 2 O − O , 1), (3) the NO + O Zeldovich reaction rate ( k z NO − O), and (4) the N2 + O Zeldovich reaction rate ( k z N 2 − O). The experiments were insensitive to the reaction rate of N2O and O to form O2 and N2 ( k d N 2 O − O , 2) at high temperatures. Generally, k d N 2 O − [ M ] was inferred from IR and UV offline data, with k d N 2 O − O , 1, k z NO − O, and k z N 2 − O inferred from UV online data in Ar and N2 dilution. Each inferred reaction rate shows consistency with literature, while extending data to higher temperatures with reduced uncertainty. The reduced uncertainty is sufficient to enable comparisons of the data to various high-temperature quantum chemistry models.