THERMAL CONDUCTION AND THERMAL-DIFFUSION IN DILUTE POLYATOMIC-GAS MIXTURES

A novel theoretical basis for the evaluation of the thermal conductivi ty and the thermal diffusion ratios of dilute polyatomic gas mixtures is derived within the semi-classical isotropic kinetic theory. New exp ressions for species diffusion coefficients, thermal diffusion coeffic ients, and thermal diffusion ratios are also obtained by using an expa nsion vector based upon the total energy of the molecules. Finally, pr actical and accurate expressions for the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusion ratios are derived by using the recent theory of ite rative transport algorithms, as developed by the authors. The resultin g expressions can be used in either theoretical calculations or comput ational models of multicomponent flows.