NONUNIFORMITIES IN INITIAL TEMPERATURE AND CONCENTRATION AS A CAUSE OF EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL-REACTIONS IN COMBUSTIBLE GASES

The conditions for the onset of an explosion in an initially motionless combustible gas with a nonuniform temperature distribution have been found analytically and substantiated numerically. The stages in the development of various reaction regimes are treated on the basis of an analysis of the mutual interaction between a pressure wave and a chemical reaction front. Nonuniform concentration of the initial reactive component is shown numerically to be capable of causing an explosive development of the reaction. Analytical and numerical results allow the assertion that initial reaction induction time nonuniformities can be a cause of explosion.