Multicomponent diffusion and heat exchange during the flow of an ionized gas in chemical equilibrium about a body

In the present paper, we investigate the flow of a multicomponent, partially ionized gas mixture in the boundary layer around an impermeable surface; the state in the boundary layer being one of chemical equilibrium. As an example, the flow of partially ionized air about a sphere is considered. The chemical composition at every point of the boundary layer with running values of the pressure, temperature, and concentrations of the chemical elements was found by Newton's method, parallel with the integration of the fundamental system of nonself-similar differential equations by the curve-fitting method. Also discussed is another method of finding the composition, which is more economical from the point of view of expenditure of machine time. It is found that the dimensionless heat flux to the wall at the front critical point of the sphere can be 26% larger for constant concentrations of the chemical elements than it is for variable concentrations.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 53–59, May–June, 1972.The author thanks G. A. Tirskii for discussing the work.