Initiation of chain and thermal explosions by the reactor surface. Criterion for the participation of branching chains in a thermal explosion

The combustion of hydrogen and silane is studied. It is established that the chain initiation reaction on quartz in the zone of hydrogen and silane combustion is manifested as an autocatalytic reaction which is able to initiate a chain explosion and participate in the initiation of a thermal explosion. It is shown that in the case of an oxyhydrogen gas, the assumption of a branching-chain nature of the third limit is inconsistent with Semenov’s law, which includes double exponential dependences of the chain reaction rate on time and temperature. A criterion for the participation of branching chains in complex processes is proposed based on the presence or absence of short delays of a thermal explosion (≈1 sec). According to the criterion, the explosion of an oxyhydrogen gas at atmospheric pressure with delays markedly exceeding 1 sec proceeds without the participation of branching chains and is consistently explained by the joint action of autocatalytic processes on the reactor wall and gas-phase processes. __________ Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 44–51, September–October, 2007.