MODIFICATION OF A THERMAL TRANSPORT CODE TO INCLUDE CHEMISTRY WITH THERMALLY CONTROLLED KINETICS

A finite-element thermal transport code is modified to include the eff ects of chemistry with thermally controlled kinetics. There are two ty pes of pathways for a chemical reaction in energy-temperature space: o ne resembles a phase change and the other resembles a burn. Effective heat capacity methods are robust and stable for phase-change calculati ons, while heat source methods give the best results for a burn. We pr opose an energy-conserving method that adapts to the heat release (or absorption) mechanism using either effective heat capacity or heat sou rce ideas. The method is applied to two examples: a burn and a phase c hange.