The Effect of Vibrational Energy on the Reaction of Molecular Hydrogen with Atomic Oxygen.
Abstract
A summary is given of results obtained in the O + H2(*) experiment to study the effect of vibrational excitation of molecular hydrogen at approximately 300K translational temperature on the production of vibrationally excited hydroxyl radicals. A preliminary upper bound of 6 x 10 to the 10th power cc/mole-sec on the rate constant for this process has been deduced from laboratory observations and detailed kinetic calculations by use of the Aerospace NEST program. This result implies that vibrational excitation alone cannot accelerate the rate of the O + H2 reaction by the amount needed to explain the large OH(*) radiance observed in field measurements on the plume of a missile that employs a noncarbon-containing fuel. Also, it can be shown that no more than 30% of the vibrational energy of H2 is available to overcome the activation energy for the overall O + H2 reaction. Methods of improving the accuracy of the authors' determination of the rate constant for the O + H2(*) reaction are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 11, 1974
- Accession Number
- ADA003757
Entities
People
- Francis Hai
- Jerome V. V. Kasper
- John H. Birely
- Lane A. Darnton
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation