PRACTICAL, ACCURATE EXPRESSIONS FOR THE THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY OF ATOM DIATOM GAS-MIXTURES

The use of an expansion vector based upon the total energy flux has le d to a considerable simplification of the kinetic theory results for t he thermal conductivity of a polyatomic gas mixture. In this paper the simplification process is taken further in order to provide expressio ns for the thermal conductivity of a mixture of atomic and diatomic sp ecies that are both accurate and practical for the interpretation of e xperimental data. In particular, the thermal conductivity of the mixtu re can be cast in a form that is analogous to, and no more complicated than, the corresponding expression for entirely monatomic systems. Th e accuracy of the resulting expression is demonstrated with the aid of new calculations of the relevant kinetic cross sections for realistic potential models.