Wave propagation in the combustion of a low-concentration aerial suspension

Abstract

In the general case the convective combustion of aerial suspensions is described by the equations of mechanics of multiphase media [1]. If the volume particle content is neglected and it is assumed that in the initial stage of convective front propagation the particles are stationary, and that during combustion their temperature is constant, then the equations for describing the combustion process reduce to the equations of gas dynamics for a distributed supply of heat and mass [2, 3]. The equations and model constant mass burning rate kinetics are used to solve the plane one-dimensional problem of the combustion of an aerial suspension in part of a region bounded on one side by a fixed wall. A small parameter proportional to the mass concentration and the heat value of the fuel is introduced. The method of matched asymptotic expansions [4] is used to construct a uniformly applicable first approximation. The solution obtained describes the wave propagation in aerial suspension combustion processes. The resulting pattern includes an inclined compression wave propagated with the speed of sound followed by a convective hot reaction product front whose propagation velocity is much less (in conformity with the small parameter introduced) than the speed of sound.