Zeldovich number

The Zel'dovich number is a dimensionless number which provides a quantitative value for the activation energy of a chemical reaction which appears in the Arrhenius exponent, named after the Russian scientist Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich.

It is defined as

$\beta ={\frac {E}{RT_{f}}}\cdot {\frac {T_{f}-T_{o}}{T_{f}}}$

where

• $E$ is the activation energy of the reaction
• $R$ is the universal gas constant
• $T_{f}$ is the flame temperature
• $T_{o}$ is the unburnt mixture temperature.

In terms of heat release parameter $\alpha$, it is given by

$\beta ={\frac {E}{RT_{f}}}\alpha$