The Rates of Nonequilibrium Physicochemical Processes in the Shock Wave Front in a Dense Gas Mixture

The possibilities of increasing the rates of physicochemical processes (PCP) occurring in shock waves (SW) have been recently investigated in a number of studies [1–5]. This effect was theoretically predicted and experimentally revealed [3]. A mode with different partial velocities and temperatures of the components is observed in the SW front in mixtures of gases with different masses and cross sections of particles. In addition, because of the comparability of the shock wave thickness and the free path, particles from regions before and after the shock wave may interact with one another. As a result, the possible physicochemical processes (the processes of excitation of internal degrees of freedom and the chemical reactions) will occur under nonequilibrium conditions. It is the objective of this study to calculate the maximal possible increase in the PCP rates (electron level excitation) in the SW front in a mixture of dense gases with different masses of particles. The calculation is to be performed using a kinetic equation of the Enskog type for the soft-sphere model.