Hydrodynamic limits of kinetic equations for polyatomic and reactive gases

Abstract Starting from a kinetic BGK-model for a rarefied polyatomic gas, based on a molecular structure of discrete internal energy levels, an asymptotic Chapman-Enskog procedure is developed in the asymptotic continuum limit in order to derive consistent fluid-dynamic equations for macroscopic fields at Navier-Stokes level. In this way, the model allows to treat the gas as a mixture of mono-atomic species. Explicit expressions are given not only for dynamical pressure, but also for shear stress, diffusion velocities, and heat flux. The analysis is shown to deal properly also with a mixture of reactive gases, endowed for simplicity with translational degrees of freedom only, in which frame analogous results can be achieved.