The role of explosion limit chemical kinetics in H2-CO-O2 detonations

Abstract

The role of explosion limit kinetics is explored by applying three different explosion limits to detonation waves traveling at a critical Mach number in stoichiometric mixture of H2-CO-O2. Such waves are achieved by subjecting normal Chapman-Jouguet waves to a gaseous boundary and bringing them to a critical velocity below which quenching would result. It is found that the critical velocities can be explained by the explosion limit advanced by Minkoff and Tipper when recent applicable rate constants (slightly modified) are used. In addition, this explosion limit seems to give a reasonable prediction of the lean detonation limit of CO-H2-O2 mixtures, although it fails to agree with the experimental evidence at the rich detonation limit end found in the literature.