Effect of particle size on the minimum ignition energy of aluminum powders

The effect of particle size on the minimum ignition energy (MIE) of aluminum dust clouds is investigated using a MIKE 3 apparatus. The results show that the MIE values decrease with particle size d(p). The dependence of d(p)(3) on the MIE for micron-sized and larger aluminum particles is in agreement with the theoretical correlation. When the particle size is approximately <10 mu m, the dependence of d(p)(0.5) on the MIE for 30 nm < d(p) < 10 mu m can be observed. This study confirms the observations of the dependence of d(p) on the MIE of aluminum dust clouds: MIE similar to d(p)(3) for diffusion-and MIE similar to d(p)(0.5) for kinetic-controlled regimes.