Branched-chain nature of hydrogen combustion in the detonation mode

Minor admixtures of the simplest hydrocarbons can prevent detonation and break down a steady-state detonation wave in hydrogen-air mixtures at atmospheric and higher pressures. Therefore, the determining role in the appearance and propagation of the detonation wave is played by the branched mechanism and, accordingly, by the competing chain branching and termination reactions. Without taking into account these reactions, combustion theory cannot explain the basic regularities of the process, including the concentration limits of detonation.