Steady Combustion Waves Driven by a Recombination Reaction in a Gas Mixture

Steady combustion waves in one space dimension are studied by means of fluid-dynamic reactive Navier–Stokes equations derived from kinetic theory. By using the conservation laws, the problem is reduced to a three-dimensional dynamical system, with different solutions of deflagration or detonation type according to several various sub-regions in the parameter space. The delicate question of the flame eigenvalue is addressed, and a suitable numerical algorithm is used in order to catch these special solutions and to deal with the relevant unstable equilibrium states. Numerical examples of smooth weak deflagrations or detonations are shown.