Combustion of Aluminum and Boron Agglomerates Free Falling in Air. II. Experimental Results

Abstract

The combustion of 81/19 Al/B agglomerates with a diameter of 320–780 μm in free fall in air was first studied using model monodisperse agglomerates. The dependence of the burning time on size was determined. Burning residue particles have been studied by morphological, chemical, mass, particle size, and elemental (EDS) analyses. It has been found that the essential distinctive features of the combustion mechanism of Al/B agglomerates compared to aluminum are a long combustion duration; a specific core-shell structure of the particles, with boron present in the core and absent in the shell; slight changes in particle mass and diameter during combustion.