(673f) Fundamental Simulation of Aluminum Droplet Combustion

A computational study of the rapid combustion of micron-sized aluminum droplets ranging from zero to moderate Reynolds number will be be presented. Aluminum particles have been added to energetic materials for decades to increase the energy density of rocket propellants and to enhance post-detonation blast waves in explosives. Recently international emphasis has been placed on the prediction of self-sustained detonation in particle-laden ?dusty? gases. However the lack of reliable information, theoretical or experimental, regarding the aluminum burning rate has been identified as a limiting detail in the further progress of these fields of research. The current study investigates, using fundamental chemical mechanisms and transport principles, the underlying combustion phenomena affecting the burning rate. Based on a multi-scale approach, a one-dimensional, spherically symmetric set of simulations will be presented showing the relative importance of multicomponent effects on the droplet's diffusion flame. And three-dimensional simulations of flow over an aluminum droplet at moderate Reynolds number with simultaneous reaction and diffusion will be presented.