Gasification effects in the heterogeneous ignition of a condensed fuel by a hot gas

Abstract

An analysis is presented to describe the heterogeneous ignition of a condensed fuel suddenly exposed to a hot oxidizing atmosphere. The exothermic heterogeneous reaction, generating gaseous products, is considered to be of the Arrhenius type with a large activation energy compared with the initial thermal energy of the fuel. Instantaneously after contact with the gases, the surface temperature rises to a jump value which is calculated allowing for variable transport properties of fuel and gas. The effect of the chemical heat release and the cooling effect due to the gasification flow are taken into account in obtaining an integral equation which is solved to describe the evolution of surface temperature with time.