Component desorption effect on the material catalyticity in high-temperature multicomponent gases

The distinctive features of the formation of the catalyticity of materials with respect to atom recombination on the material surface are investigated for mixtures of different high-temperature gases under conditions of hypersonic atmospheric flight or bench setups. It is shown that in general the catalyticity constants (heterogenous recombination probabilities) of individual components determined experimentally in dissociated flows of “pure” gases are improperly used for calculating the heat fluxes to material surfaces in multicomponent gas flows, owing to differences in the occupation of the surface by atoms in pure gases and mixtures. This effect must be taken into account in interpreting the experimental data which so far have been the only source of information on material catalyticity in gas mixtures. Otherwise, the results of calculations of the heat transfer to hypersonic flight vehicles could turn out to be invalid. Examples of the possible effect of ignoring this factor on the calculated heat fluxes are presented.