Study On Reaction Characteristics And Thermokinetic Analysis Of Aluminum And Water

In aluminum/water （Al/H₂O） reaction fuel, the aluminum with high activity and highenergy density is used as the combustion agent, and the environmental water was used asthe oxidant. Thus, the energy density and specific impulse of the metal fuel can beimproved greatly. The Al/H₂O reaction is regarded as the energy source for the newgeneration of high-energy propulsion system. Compared with ordinary aluminum powder,nano-aluminum （nAl） has a huge surface area, high reactivity and other advanced features.Consequently, while nAl powder was applied in aluminum/water reaction fuel, thenAl/H₂O reaction system will have a capacious prospect in the investigation andapplication. Since high-tech weapons need a lage amount of heat release in a limitedvolume of reaction ramjet, the reaction should be completed efficiently in a short time.Therefore, the study on the reaction characteristics of Al/H₂O （especially nAl/H₂O） systemand the conditions for efficient combustion and heat release is the foundation and key ofrelated researches.In this paper, high pressure reactor controlled by computer system was used as anin-situ method to monitor the whole exothermic process of nAl/H₂O reaction. Moreover,three characteristic temperature points （Initial exothermic starting temperature of thereaction, Reaction maximum rate temperature, Reaction end temperature） and threesignificant evaluation parameters （Initial exothermic starting temperature of the reaction,Reaction rate, Reaction heat release） in the reaction process were extracted. Based onthese, an analysis method and evaluation standard for nAl/H₂O reaction was established toinvestigate on properties of various nAl/H₂O fuels. In addition, the effects of aluminumparticle size, storage conditions of aiuminum, heating power, mole ratio of reactants andsolution PH on the reaction characteristics of Al/H₂O reactions were studied with theproposed method. Consequently, the optimal reaction conditions of Al/H₂O reaction werededuced, which could supply the references on formula design of nAl/H₂O propellantsystem. Furthermore, the reaction rate constants of each sub-reaction and the overallreaction were calculated.