Onset Temperatures in Hot Wire Ignition of AN‐Based Emulsions

Hot wire ignition experiments were carried out recently at the Canadian Explosives Research Laboratory on a few emulsion formulations. The data indicate that there is a pressure-dependent onset temperature beyond which the wire temperature increases at an accelerated rate. In order to explain this observation and to detect this temperature more consistently, particularly at low pressures, the data are reanalysed by comparing the experimental wire temperature with that predicted from theory for the heating of an inert material. For this purpose, an analytical theory from the literature is reviewed and the numerical solution developed in this report is described. The latter can deal with more general solutions with variable thermal properties and chemical reactions in the condensed medium surrounding the wire.