A kinetic relaxation approach to fast reactive mixtures: shock wave structure

A relaxation time approximation of the reactive Boltzmann equations for a bimolecular reaction, well suited for dealing with fast chemical processes, is discussed. The (single) BGK-type collision operator for each species is constructed, in terms of suitably defined attractors and relaxation times, and the essential kinetic features (invariants, equilibria, law of mass action, H-theorem) are verified. Numerical results, worked out for the classical steady shock problem, are presented and briefly commented on