ZFK equation, abbreviation for Zeldovich–Frank-Kamenetskii equation, is a
reaction–diffusion equation that models
premixed flame
A premixed flame is a flame formed under certain conditions during the combustion of a premixed charge (also called pre-mixture) of fuel and oxidiser. Since the fuel and oxidiser—the key chemical reactants of combustion—are available througho ...
propagation. The equation is named after
Yakov Zeldovich
Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich (, ; 8 March 1914 – 2 December 1987), also known as YaB, was a leading Soviet people, Soviet Physics, physicist of Belarusians, Belarusian origin, who is known for his prolific contributions in physical Physical c ...
and
David A. Frank-Kamenetskii who derived the equation in 1938. The equation is analogous to
KPP equation except that is contains an exponential behaviour for the reaction term and it differs fundamentally from KPP equation with regards to the propagation velocity of the traveling wave. In non-dimensional form, the equation reads
with a typical form for
given by
where