Multicomponent, reacting MHD flows

The equations describing multicomponent, reacting MHD flows are derived. Arbitrarily oriented magnetic fields are considered. The differential equations are obtained for: (1) general flows, and (2) the special case of plane-parallel, steady flows. The approximations made in deriving these equations are critically assessed. Particular attention is given to the momentum and energy ‘source terms’. Exact formulae are obtained for the momentum and energy source terms for elastic scattering for two special cases of the momentum transfer cross section: (1) $$\tilde \sigma \propto \upsilon^{-1} $$ and (2) $$\tilde \sigma$$=constant. The effects of reactive processes, such as recombination, photoionization, photodissociation, charge exchange, and reactive scattering are also discussed. Departures from Maxwellian velocity distributions are considered.