Abstract
PROF. DAVID refers to his experiments with Parkinson on the rate of emission of radiation from explosions. In this paper I find no mention of any drying process for the gases, or of any attempt to remove adsorbed moisture from the explosion vessel. I therefore assume that the gases were far from dry, and these experiments can scarcely be compared with those of Garner and colleagues to which I referred. They appear to me to support my statement that the concept of vibrationally activated molecules could not explain afterburning or latent energy of long duration in hydrogen-rich fuels. Also I may perhaps be permitted to quote Prof. David's own words relating to some earlier work on coal-gas–air explosions1, that the “rate of emission of radiation is a maximum about 1/40 sec. before the attainment of maximum temperature”. This effect is also very well shown in the curves of David and Parkinson to which Prof. David refers, Curve A in Fig. 2 showing a difference of about 0.03 sec. and Curve B in Fig. 3 of more than 0.05 sec., although for mixtures rich in hydrogen the effect is not observed.
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References
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., A, 211, 375 (1911).
"Spectroscopy and Combustion Theory", p. 121. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1942).
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GAYDON, A. Condition of Freshly Burnt Gases. Nature 150, 636 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150636b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150636b0
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