Inhibition of the combustion and detonation of hydrogen-air mixtures behind the shock front

The chain avalanche plays the determining role in all regimes of combustion in the hydrogen-oxygen system in the initiating shock wave near atmospheric pressure in a wide range of high initial temperatures. The characteristics of combustion and detonation can be effectively controlled by varying the rates of the competing chain-branching and chain-termination reactions with the use of small amounts of admixtures. The reactivity of the combustible mixture is correlated with the chemical structure of the admixture. This correlation is manifested in the fact that changing a single functional group in the admixture molecule produces a strong effect on the kinetics, macrokinetics, and gas dynamics of the overall process.