TY - JOUR
T1 - On the effectiveness of metal particle combustion performance and implications to Martian missions
AU - Tran, Quan
AU - Vaz, Neil
AU - Pantoya, Michelle L.
AU - Altman, Igor
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/6/15
Y1 - 2023/6/15
N2 - There is a natural abundance of carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere that can oxidize magnesium fuel. Combustion of magnesium carried from Earth is considered as a potential propulsion process for Mars Ascent Vehicles. Other space exploration missions would benefit from magnesium combustion and thus sparked motivation to resolve puzzles in existing models for metal combustion. Harnessing all the chemical potential energy available in a metal particle will optimize power generation capabilities and payload demands. Here we design experiments to quantify metal combustion completeness, an important parameter that characterizes propulsion performance. Results show reduced energetic performance of magnesium combustion is directly related to the unavoidable occurrence of unburnt metal encapsulated in the combustion products caused by condense-luminescence. The new data provide insight into the advanced physics controlling metal particle combustion. The analyses suggest a path to improve magnesium energetic output by controlling radiative loss.
AB - There is a natural abundance of carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere that can oxidize magnesium fuel. Combustion of magnesium carried from Earth is considered as a potential propulsion process for Mars Ascent Vehicles. Other space exploration missions would benefit from magnesium combustion and thus sparked motivation to resolve puzzles in existing models for metal combustion. Harnessing all the chemical potential energy available in a metal particle will optimize power generation capabilities and payload demands. Here we design experiments to quantify metal combustion completeness, an important parameter that characterizes propulsion performance. Results show reduced energetic performance of magnesium combustion is directly related to the unavoidable occurrence of unburnt metal encapsulated in the combustion products caused by condense-luminescence. The new data provide insight into the advanced physics controlling metal particle combustion. The analyses suggest a path to improve magnesium energetic output by controlling radiative loss.
KW - Bomb calorimeter
KW - Condense-luminescence
KW - Magnesium combustion
KW - Metal combustion modeling
KW - Metal powders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148035258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.fuel.2023.127805
DO - 10.1016/j.fuel.2023.127805
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85148035258
SN - 0016-2361
VL - 342
JO - Fuel
JF - Fuel
M1 - 127805
ER -