Laser-Induced Photodissociation of an Inhomogeneous Homonuclear Diatomic Gas

A theoretical model of Laser photodissociation of a homonuclear diatomic molecular gas, considering gradients of gas temperature, was analyzed. The partial differential equations describing such a gas were numerically integrated over time with fixed temperature on gas boundaries, using data of oxygen. Results show that the dissociation greatly depends on the initial density of the gas. Entropy production due to the irreversible processes in the system was investigated. Most of the entropy generated in the gas was due to translational heat conduction by the atoms. It proved to be the dominant process over molecular heat conduction for maintaining thermal balance of the gas.