The role of surface contact during burning of heterogeneous condensed systems

We examine the effects of surface processes and chemical transport reactions on the burning of a SHS system through variation of surface contact of the reactants. A model is proposed which can take into account variations in surface contact in the process of burn front propagation. We show that surface diffusion and chemical transport of one of the reactants to the surface of another are capable of increasing the burn velocity by a factor of 3–4. We also show that it is necessary for surface contact of the reactants to form in the heated zone of the combustion wave in order to attain maximum burn velocities.