Effect of an external electric field on the disperse composition of condensed products of aluminum particle combustion in air

Investigation was performed of the effect of an external electric field on the completeness of combustion of ASD-1 aluminum powder in an airflow and on the disperse composition of condensed combustion products. It is established that for an oxidizer-to-fuel ratio of 0.8 and a combustor inlet flow rate of 10 m/sec, the application of an electric field increases the completeness of aluminum combustion from 43 to 75%. In this case, the sizes of submicron particles of aluminum oxide practically do not change, and the mass average sizes and the mass concentration of the 4 – 50 $\mu$m fraction decrease, due to the activating effect of the electric field on the vapor-phase combustion of aluminum particles. A decrease of the mass concentration of the size fraction larger than 50 $\mu$m from 12 to 3% under the action of the electric field suppress markedly the agglomeration of aluminum particles during combustion in air.