A detailed N/O kinetic mechanism has been developed and tested in compariso
n with experimental data for N2O ignition, NO and NO2 decomposition at high
temperatures. It consists of 27 reactions among 11 species. A sensitivity
analysis reveals which reactions are critical for the quality of the modeli
ng in particular experimental conditions. The choice of the rate constants
for these reactions is discussed. Good agreement has been obtained for the
ignition delays in the pure N2O and its mixtures with Ar, decomposition rat
es of the NO and NO2 in static reactors and behind shock waves. The modelin
g using recently suggested controversial rate constants for the key reactio
ns
N2O + O = N-2 + O-2 (8)
N2O + O = NO + NO (9)
has been performed as well. It is demonstrated that the use of too-low or t
oo-high values of the reactions (8,9) rate constants is incompatible with a
vailable experimental data.