Combustion of nano-aluminum and liquid water

G. A. Risha, S. F. Son, R. A. Yetter, V. Yang, B. C. Tappan

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

206 Scopus citations

Abstract

An experimental investigation on the combustion behavior of nano-aluminum (nAl) and liquid water has been conducted. In particular, linear and mass-burning rates of quasi-homogeneous mixtures of nAl and liquid water as a function of pressure, mixture composition, particle size, and oxide layer thickness were measured. This study is the first reported self-deflagration on nAl and liquid water without the use of any additional gelling agent. Steady-state burning rates were obtained at room temperature (∼25 °C) using a windowed vessel for a pressure range of 0.1-4.2 MPa in an argon atmosphere, particle diameters of 38-130 nm, and overall mixture equivalence ratios (Φ) from 0.5 to 1.25. At the highest pressure studied, the linear burning rate was found to be 8.6 ± 0.4 cm/s, corresponding to a mass-burning rate per unit area of 6.1 g/cm2 s. The pressure exponent at room temperature was 0.47, which was independent of the overall mixture equivalence ratio for all of the cases considered. The mass-burning rate per unit area increased from ∼1.0 to 5.8 g/cm2 s for an equivalence ratio range of 0.5-1.25. It varied inversely to particle diameter, increasing by 157% when the particle diameter was decreased from 130 to 50 nm at Φp = 1.0.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2029-2036
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the Combustion Institute
Volume31 II
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2007
Event31st International Symposium on Combustion - Heidelberg, Germany
Duration: Aug 5 2006Aug 11 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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