The role of products and a reverse reaction in analysis of nonequilibrium effects in a bimolecular chemical reaction in a dilute gas

A thermally activated bimolecular reaction in a dilute gas is analyzed. The Shizgal-Karplus perturbation method of solution of the Boltzmann equation for reactions A + A --> B + B and A + A reversible arrow B + B is used to o btain the analytical expressions for the nonequilibrium temperatures of rea ctants and for the rate of chemical reaction. For both the reactions the te mperatures of components obtained within one and two Sonines approximations depend on concentration of products. The rate constant of chemical reactio n depends on concentration of products for the first reaction only and for the second reaction is constant. The analytical results for the temperature of the reactant A are compared with those obtained from the Monte Carlo co mputer simulations with use of the Bird method. It is shown that all analyt ical expressions simplify to those previously discussed if the concentratio n of products is negligible. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.