Transport Coefficients of a Single Reactive Gas

Abstract

The influence of chemical reactions upon the transport coefficients of the simple chemical reaction A + A → products — where the concentrations of the products are negligible in comparison with those of the reagents — are determined from the Boltzmann equation. Two models for the reactive collision integral are used: (a) in one model the “loss term” of the Boltzmann equation takes into account the elastic and reactive collisions, whereas the “gain term” considers only the elastic collisions, and (b) in the other model the “loss term” considers only the elastic collisions, whereas the “gain term” takes into account the difference between the elastic and the reactive collisions. Explicit expressions for the coefficients of shear viscosity, thermal conductivity and reaction rate as functions of the activation energy are given. It is also shown how the reactant fields of particle number density, pressure and temperature, and the coefficients of shear viscosity, thermal conductivity and reaction rate evolve wi...