Combustion of shock-dispersed fuel in a chamber

In previous studies we have investigated after-burning effects of a fuel-rich explosive (TNT). In that case the detonation only releases about 30% of the available energy, but generates a hot cloud of fuel that can burn in the ambient air, thus evoking an additional energy release that is distributed in space and time. The current series of small-scale experiments can be looked upon as a natural generalization of this mechanism: a booster charge disperses a (non-explosive) fuel, provides mixing with air and - by means of the hot detonation products - energy to ignite the fuel. The current version of our miniature Shock-Dispersed-Fuel (SDF) charges consists of a spherical booster charge of 0.5 g PETN, embedded in a paper cylinder of approximately 2.2 cm3, which is filled with powdered fuel compositions. The main compositions studied up to now contain aluminum powder, hydrocarbon powders like polyethylene or sucrose and/or carbon particles. These charges were studied in three different chambers of 4-1, 6.6-1 and 40.5-1 volume.