lämpökiihdytystä

Lämpökiihdytystä, known in English as thermal acceleration, is a phenomenon observed in certain chemical reactions and physical processes where an increase in temperature leads to a disproportionately rapid increase in the rate of the process. This effect is distinct from simple thermal activation, which describes a steady increase in reaction rate with temperature. Thermal acceleration implies that the rate of increase itself accelerates as the temperature rises.

This phenomenon is often associated with systems that have multiple, interdependent reaction pathways or exhibit autocatalytic behavior. In such systems, an initial increase in temperature might activate one pathway, which in turn can influence or accelerate other pathways. This cascading effect can lead to an exponential or even super-exponential increase in the overall rate.

Examples of thermal acceleration can be found in areas such as combustion, where the complex chain reactions involved in burning fuel can exhibit this behavior at high temperatures. It is also relevant in some polymerization processes and in the degradation of materials under thermal stress. Understanding thermal acceleration is crucial for predicting the behavior of these systems, particularly in scenarios involving rapid temperature changes or in the design of safe operating conditions for high-temperature processes. The precise mathematical description of thermal acceleration can be complex, often requiring detailed kinetic modeling of the system's various components and their interactions.