Lower concentration limit of carbon filtration combustion

Abstract

For mixtures of carbon materials and an inert filler, dependences of the characteristics of the filtration combustion wave on the gaseous oxidizer supply rate at a fuel content in the mixture of less than 7 wt % were obtained. The existence of a lower concentration limit for a steady-state filtration combustion wave was established. It was demonstrated that at a given intensity of heat loss, the concentration limits are determined by the reactivity of the carbon material and the oxidizer supply rate. At the effective coefficient of heat loss α = 8 W/(m² K), effective conductivity of mixture material λ = 2 W/(m K), and air supply rate G = 0.1 m/s, the lowest fraction of carbon in the mixture at which combustion is still possible was 4.5 wt % for carbon-carbon composite, 2.5 wt % for activated birch coal, and 2.0 wt % for birch coal, the most reactive kind of carbon.