Characterization of CO Thermochemistry in Incident Shockwaves

Incident shock waves in pure CO have been characterized in the Electric Arc Shock Tube facility Spectrally and spatially resolved emission spectra characterize radiative signatures from CO in the VUV and mid-infrared and atomic carbon and C 2 in the visible. CO absorption of a single vibrational line is also measured with a tunable diode laser. The experimental data analyzed here are at a pressure of 0.25 Torr in the driven section and span a shock velocity range from 3.4-9.5 km/s. The emission and absorption signals are analyzed to extract temperature relaxation behind the shock which is used to derive the rate of CO dissociation. The emission spectra are compared to results using different kinetic parameters for CO dissociation and C 2 dissociation and exchange. Different rates from the literature are found to match the data from 3.4-6.6 km/s and 6.6-9.5 km/s. Areas for improvement in CO and C 2 radiation modeling are suggested on the basis of the analysis.