- Author
-
Kurzius, S. C.
- Title
- Kinetics of the Branching Step in the Reaction of Hydrogen With Oxygen.
- Coporate
- Princeton Univ., NJ
- Report
-
AFOSR 66 1311,
December 1964,
146 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- AF-49-638-32
- Keywords
-
oxygen
|
kintics
|
hydrogen
|
branched chain reactions
|
explosion limits
|
activation energy
|
chain initiation
- Identifiers
- deuterium-oxygen mixtures; absolute rate theory; classical collision theory; branching rate constant; kinetics of branching reaction; induction times; initiation process; heterogeneous; chain branching; rate constants
- Abstract
- Lower explosion limits in hydrogen-oxygen and deuterium-oxygen mixtures have been measure din the diffusion regime. From the data, the rate constants for the reaction H + O2 -> OH + O and its isotope effect are calculated between 800 and 1000 deg K. Both the absolute rate theory and the classical collision theory of reactions fail to explain the apparently reliable experimental observations. A theory is presented for reactions of essentially zero activation energy which, when applied to the above reaction and its reverse, leads to a rate constant expression which is a hybrid between that of the absolute rate theory and that of the classical collision theory of reactions. It is successful in explaining these data and permitting their extrapolation over a range in temperature equivalent to a change in the branching rate constant of 10 order of magnitude.