Nonequilibrium vibrational kinetics of air hitting a catalytic SiO2 surface

The effects of a SiO2 partially catalytic surface on the nonequilibrium chemical and vibrational kinetics of a five-species (N, N-2, O, O-2, NO) air mixture in the boundary layer of hypersonic reentry vehicles have been investigated. To this aim, boundary-layer equations coupled to vibrational master equations have been solved. The surface atomic recombination reactions have been considered as pumping the last bound vibrational level of N2 and O-2 molecules. The results show a combined influence of gas-phase and surface reactions on NO formation.