Microexplosion of aluminum slurry droplets

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer 1999-12, Vol.42 (24), p.4475-4486
• Main Authors: Byun, Do Young, Baek, Seung Wook, Cho, Ju Hyeong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Applied sciences; Combustion of heterogeneous mixtures. Incineration; Combustion. Flame; Computer simulation; Drop formation; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Evaporation; Exact sciences and technology; Mathematical models; Nucleation; Slurries; Surface active agents; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/S0017-9310(99)00111-8

The microexplosion of a slurry droplet is experimentally and theoretically investigated. The microexplosion was considered to be caused by the shell formation and the following pressure build-up in the shell which would be promoted by the suppression of evaporation, subsequent superheating and heterogeneous nucleation of a liquid carrier. Experimentally, the microexplosion phenomena was examined for various surfactant concentrations and particle loading under different ambient temperature ranges (500–900 K). To closely investigate the pressure build-up and the heterogeneous nucleation, a numerical model was introduced by considering the three stages such as the shell formation, suppression of evaporation and pressure build-up inside. The microexplosion time was estimated by postulating the limit of superheat for heterogeneous nucleation. The simulation yielded a reasonably good agreement with experimental results for Al/ n-heptane slurry droplets under various solid loadings (10–40 wt.%).