Radiative interactions in nonequilibrium flows

The influence of vibrational and chemical nonequilibrium upon infrared radiative energy transfer in nonisothermal gases is investigated. Essential information is provided on rate equations, relaxation times, transfer equations, band absorption, and radiative flux equations. The methodology developed is applied to three specific cases. These are, absorbing-emitting species between isothermal parallel plates, radiating gases in the earth's atmosphere, and supersonic flow of premixed hydrogen and air in an expanding nozzle. The results obtained for different cases reveal that the extent of radiative interactions is reduced significantly under nonequilibrium conditions. The method developed can be easily extended to investigate radiative interactions in complex nonequilibrium flows.