Thermodynamic analysis of the combustion of metal powders and their oxides in phosphorus and of the combustion of the phosphides formed in oxygen

Metal powders and their oxides can burn in phosphorus, and the phosphides formed can also burn in oxygen, producing metal oxides and phosphorus pentoxide. In a first approximation, the possibility of a combustion reaction occurring in phosphorus or in oxygen can be judged from the dependence of the quantity $\Delta_fH^0_{298}$ for the oxides and phosphide on the atomic number of the elements in the Mendeleev periodic table. Using values of the Gibbs energy for the combustion reaction, the densities of the initial and final combustion products, the heat release of combustion, and the Pilling and Bedworth coefficient, it is shown that aluminum and magnesium phosphides must be considered the most promising fuels.