Experimental and numerical studies on the burning of aluminum micro and nanoparticle clouds in air

An experimental study has been conducted to determine flame propagation velocities in clouds of micro- (4.8 μm) and nano- (187 nm) aluminum particles in air at various concentrations. The experimental results show faster flame propagation in nanoparticle cloud with respect to the case of microparticles. Maximum flame temperature has been measured using a high-resolution spectrometer operating in the visible range. Analysis of combustion residual shows that nanoparticles combustion is realized via the gas-phase mechanism. A three-stage particle combustion model has been proposed based on these observations. Model parameters have been fitted to match the experimental results on the flame velocity and maximum temperature. Particle burning time is estimated from the flame simulations.