Constant pressure combustion of aerosol of coarse magnesium particles in microgravity

• Published in: Combustion and flame Vol. 118; no. 1; pp. 262 - 280
• Main Authors: Dreizin, Edward L, Hoffmann, Vern K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.07.1999; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Combustion of solid fuels; Combustion. Flame; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Aerosols; Flame structure; Combustion; Magnesium; Flame propagation; Microgravity; Modeling
• ISSN: 0010-2180; 1556-2921
• DOI: 10.1016/S0010-2180(98)00144-8

This paper presents the first experimental results of an investigation of the combustion parameters of microgravity 'model aerosols': size-classified, relatively large metal particles aerosolized in the microgravity environment. Magnesium particles in the 150-220-micron size range were aerosolized and ignited in microgravity, allowing simultaneous observation of the flame evolution and individual particle behavior. The constant-pressure flame structure was observed using high-speed movie and video cameras. The magnesium aerosol flame was found to consist of preheat and combustion zones whose radiation differed in both intensity and spectrum. The width of the preheat zone increased and the width of the combustion zone decreased during the flame propagation. The rates of propagation of both the preheat and combustion zones oscillated with periods of several tens of milliseconds. (AIAA)