The Simulation of the Combustion of Micrometer-Sized Aluminum Particles with Steam

The Liang and Beckstead aluminum-particle combustion model has been successfully joined with a detailed chemical-kinetic mechanism. The model has been used to investigate the effect of oxidizer concentration, initial temperature, and pressure on the combustion of steam and micrometer-sized aluminum particles. The results compare well with experimental data investigating the effects of initial temperature and oxidizer concentration on burn time. The simulations and experimental data have opposite trends for the change in burn time as the pressure increased. The calculated flame temperature increases with increasing pressure, initial temperature, and oxidizer concentration. The effects of particle diameter, initial temperature, and pressure on the calculated flame temperature, flame structure, and species profiles were also investigated.