The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Combustion dynamics of individual reactive material particles
Author:	Badiola, Carlo Francisco
View Online:	njit-etd2012-021 (xiv, 88 pages ~ 3.1 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Chemical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Dreyzin, Edward L. (Committee chair) Barat, Robert Benedict (Committee member) Schoenitz, Mirko (Committee member)
Date:	2012-01
Keywords:	Metallic reactive powders Optical signatures
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Metallic reactive powders are widely used as solid fuels, pyrotechnic materials, and components of enhanced blast explosives. Metals are attractive because of their high combustion enthalpies and temperatures. Quantitative descriptions of the combustion processes and mechanisms for both pure metal and composite particles are also desired for their proper implementation in specific applications. Among reactive metals, Al is used most widely and its combustion has been studied extensively. A recently developed experimental setup using laser-ignited metal powders enabled one to record optical signatures for time-resolved combustion instances for 2-25 µm diameter aluminum particles burning in different atmospheres. Individual particle diameters are interpreted and emission signatures are correlated to determine the burn times. The current setup has been expanded to include three-color optical pyrometry and tracing characteristic molecular emission. Results for Al and novel Al-based composite materials burning in different oxidizing environments will be discussed.