Nucleation, growth, and scaling in slow combustion

TL;DR

This paper models slow combustion using reaction-diffusion equations, analyzing nucleation and growth of flame fronts, and connects these processes to classical nucleation theories, with results aligning well with theoretical expectations.

Contribution

It introduces a reaction-diffusion model for slow combustion that incorporates random fluctuations and links it to classical nucleation and growth theories.

Findings

Model accurately predicts flame front nucleation and growth.

Results agree with classical nucleation theory.

Provides insights into slow combustion dynamics.

Abstract

We study the nucleation and growth of flame fronts in slow combustion. This is modeled by a set of reaction-diffusion equations for the temperature field, coupled to a background of reactants and augmented by a term describing random temperature fluctuations for ignition. We establish connections between this model and the classical theories of nucleation and growth of droplets from a metastable phase. Our results are in good argeement with theoretical predictions.