Modeling of aluminum particle combustion with emphasis on the oxide effects and variable transport properties

Abstract

A simplified analytical modeling of single aluminum particle combustion was conducted. Ignition and quasi-steady combustion (QSC) were separately formulated and integrated. Both the heat transfer from the hot ambient gas and the enthalpy of heterogeneous surface reaction (HSR) served to cause the particle ignition. Conservation equations were solved for QSC parameters in conjunction with conserved scalar formulation and Shvab-Zeldovich function. Limit temperature postulate was formulated by a sink term pertinent to the dissociation of the aluminum oxide near the flame zone. Effective latent heat of vaporization was modified for the thermal radiation. Ignition and QSC of the aluminum particle were predicted and discussed with emphasis on the effect of the aluminum oxide and variable properties. The model was validated with the experiments regarding ignition delay time, burning rate, residue particle size, flame temperature, QSC duration, and stand-off distance of the envelop flame. Agreement was satisfactory and the prediction errors were limited within 10%.