Nonequilibrium dissociation of diatomic molecules in flows with convective and diffusive particle transport

The nonequilibrium effects in the kinetics of the thermal dissociation which occurs in a streaming gas of diatomic molecules are investigated. Expressions are obtained for the macroscopic reaction rate and the vibrational energy distribution of the molecules, taking into account the influence of the gas motion. Cases of flows with convective and diffusive particle transport are considered. The dissociating molecules are simulated by cutoff harmonic oscillators. The vibrational kinetics is described in the framework of the so-called diffusion approximation.Translated fron Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 147–153, November–December, 1985.