Abstract
Using the results of previous experimental research, a mathematical model of ignition is developed for a typical gel fuel combustible particle, based on an organic polymer thickener, in a high-temperature air medium. The mathematical model of the studied process is developed using the mathematical tools of continuum mechanics and chemical kinetics. It describes a process corresponding to the limiting regime in which the characteristic heating times of the fuel and the resulting gas-vapor mixture are much longer than the characteristic times of the chemical reaction of the fuel and oxidizer in a gaseous medium. Satisfactory results of the verification of the mathematical model and numerical algorithm make it possible to conclude that this approach can be used to reliably predict the ignition characteristics of such types of gel fuels. The ignition delay times range from 0.3 to 10.0 s for single particles of gel fuel 0.25–2.00 mm in size, heated in air at temperatures of 750 to 1473 K.