Effect of Inhomogeneous Mixing on Atmospheric Photochemical Reactions

Abstract

The conventional assumption of local uniform mixing of reactive chemical species is reexamined by derivation of the chemical reaction equations to include the effect of locally inhomogeneous mixtures on the reaction rates. Preliminary solutions of a simplified version of these equations show that inhomogeneities in reactant concentration generally tend to slow the reaction rate. Estimates of the relative roles of local diffusive mixing and chemical reactions in inhomogeneous mixtures show that there are several relatively fast photochemical reactions which may be limited by local diffusive mixing. In these cases, the reaction proceeds much more slowly than would be predicted if the reactants were uniformly mixed. © 1972, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.