Critical conditions of spark ignition of a mixture of gases (oxidizer and fuel) and reactive particles

The problem of spark ignition of a gas suspension including a fuel, an oxidizer, and reactive particles is considered using a two-temperature thermodiffusion model of combustion. Dependences of the minimum ignition energy on disperse-phase parameters are obtained. It is shown that the presence of exothermically reacting disperse-phase particles has an ambiguous effect on the minimum spark energy leading to ignition of the gas suspension. The values of the lower and upper concentration limits for ignition of a methane–air mixture with suspended coal dust particles are in good agreement with experimental data.