Ignition, combustion, and extinction of carbon particles

Abstract As a continuation of an earlier study we consider the combustion of single carbon particles in an oxidizing ambient. Two aspects are emphasized; first, the distributions with time of the several contributors to the thermal balance of a particle during ignition, combustion, and extinction are calculated. It is found that during extended periods of a particle lifetime thermal inertia enters significantly in the thermal balance. The second aspect relates to the application of the theory of high activation temperatures to the analysis of particle behaviour. It is found that such an application accounts in a simple and physically appealing fashion for the abrupt changes in particle behavior predicted by the numerical analysis and provides a simple means for describing the effect of various parameters on iginition.