Detailed analysis of combustion process of a single aluminum particle in air using an improved experimental approach.

Alexandre Braconnier (1, 2) , Christian Chauveau (1) , Fabien Halter (1) , Stany Gallier (2)

1 ICARE - Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et Environnement
2 ArianeGroup

The current experimental study aims at analyzing the self-sustained combustion of 30-120 μm Al particles using an electrostatic levitation system. In this improved set-up, a single particle is isolated in air with different ambient pressure (1-31 bar) to be then ignited by a CO2 laser beam. The integrated optical signature of burning Al particle is recorded using filtered photomultipliers and a high-speed camera. The photomultiplier is used to estimate burning time while the camera direct visualization allows to measure the evolution of combustion parameters in real time such as droplet diameter (including initial particle diameter) and flame diameter with important resolution. Important information are also provided to accurately describe combustion phenomenology. Measured burning times according to the pressure are compared to experimental correlations issued from literature and similar trends are observed. The existence of different stages during combustion is clearly evidenced and early assumptions can be made to explain dependence between combustion time and identified phenomena.

Mots clés: Solid propellant; Metal combustion; Aluminum; Burning time

Domaines: Milieux fluides et réactifs

Alexandre Braconnier, Christian Chauveau, Fabien Halter, Stany Gallier. Detailed analysis of combustion process of a single aluminum particle in air using an improved experimental approach.. International Journal of Energetic Materials and Chemical Propulsion, 2019, 17 (2), pp.111-124. ⟨10.1615/IntJEnergeticMaterialsChemProp.2018027988⟩. ⟨hal-01981110⟩