ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the principles of chemical thermodynamics and reaction kinetics. It introduces heat and mass transport processes, some aspects of the chemistry–fluids interaction and the non-dimensionalisation of parameters as they apply to combustion processes. The interpretation of the overall amount of energy released from and the state of equilibrium attained in the combustion process is part of the subject of thermodynamics. Combustion involves the liberation of energy as the chemical reaction proceeds. Most combustion processes take place by a series of elementary steps, as part of a chain reaction. In the physics of combustion use is made of the laws of conservation of energy, mass and momentum. The transport of momentum, or viscosity, is involved only indirectly in combustion, for example when it controls the flow velocity profile in a tube. Many of the mathematical equations which represent the physics and chemistry of combustion are written in a non-dimensional form.
