A review of one aspect of the thermal-explosion theory

The historical development of the thermal-explosion theory is examined and reviewed, It is shown that the original formulation of the problem by Semenov accurately defines the phenomenon and explains the reason for the explosion. He showed that, when the heat generation within the solid exceeds the heat dissipation to the surroundings, explosion occurs. Frank-Kamenetskii's disapproval of Semenov's logic theorized that the difference between the temperatures at the center of the solid and its surface is the cause of the explosion. His famous and ingenious small-temperature model and the solution to the differential equation that resulted from that distorted the problem and delayed the progress to a full understanding of the problem. He concluded that explosion occurs when no solution to the problem exists. The exact solution to the problem by Shouman, Donaldson and Tsao reaffirmed the validity of the Semenov formulation. Further examination of the effect of reactant consumption on the problem produced full understanding of the physics of the problem.