Temperature evolution of laser-ignited micrometric iron particles: A comprehensive experimental data set and numerical assessment of laser heating impact

Abstract

This study examines the effects of laser heating on the ignition and critical combustion characteristics, such as temperature and burn time, of individual iron particles. It provides time-dependent temperature profiles of laser-ignited particles across a broad spectrum of particle size distributions and oxygen concentrations obtained from experiments, which are a useful database for further development and validation of iron particle combustion models. The herein reported datasets significantly complement those existing in the literature. In the current study, the raw data are thoroughly re-evaluated using refined approaches. For the experimental canonical configuration of single iron particle combustion, an ignition system based on laser heating provides several advantages in overcoming temperature field uncertainties and facilitating controlled environments for optical diagnostics. Despite the inherent uncertainties in laser heating, associated with non-uniform intensity profiles and particle size variations, this study addresses the critical question of how these uncertainties affect in situ measurements of particle temperature and time to reach peak temperature. This study, conducted using a numerical model, reveals a dependence of the particle temperature after laser heating on particle size. However, this dependence does not significantly impact the key parameters of iron-particle combustion, such as the maximum temperature and burn time of the laser-ignited iron particle. The study also presents a comparison between the simulated particle temperature histories and those derived from two-color pyrometry measurements for a wide range of particle size distributions and oxygen concentrations. Notably, by implementing a laser-heating sub-model into an iron particle combustion model, assuming external-diffusion-limited oxidation only up to stoichiometric FeO, the temperature evolution up to the maximum temperature is reasonably captured for a wide range of particle sizes (20–53μm) and oxygen volumetric fractions (14–21vol% O2 mixed with N2). However, with increasing oxygen concentration, the external-diffusion limited model significantly overestimates the heating rate and subsequently the maximum particle temperature.

Keywords

• Iron combustion
• Metal-enabled cycle of renewable energy
• Single-particle combustion model
• Laser ignition
• Two-color pyrometry