Ignition of hydrogen–oxygen and stoichiometric hydrogen–methane–oxygen mixtures on hot wires at low pressures

It was found that the ignition temperatures of H2–O2 and H2–CH4–O2 mixtures at a low pressure on heated Pd, Pt, Nichrome and Kanthal wires at 40 Torr increase with a decrease in H2 concentration; only a heated Pd wire shows the pronounced catalytic action. Numerical calculations allowed us to reveal the role of an additional branching step, viz. H + HO2 → 2OH.