Chemical kinetic modeling and sensitivity analyses for boron assisted hydrocarbon combustion

As part of a program to systematically investigate the high temperature combustion of particulate boron/liquid hydrocarbon slurries, a kinetic model of homogeneous combustion chemistry for B/O/H/C systems has been developed. The model includes gradient sensitivity analysis procedures to facilitate characterization of reaction mechanisms and to help identify critical thermochemical and kinetic parameters for further theoretical and/or experimental evaluation. The reaction model includes 19 chemical species and 59 forward and reverse elementary reactions. When possible, reaction rate constants and mechanisms were chosen from an evaluation of published experimental data. However, most boron species reaction mechanisms and rate parameters had to be estimated from data for analogous species or from transition state theory. This paper presents model results and sensitivity analyses for adiabatic homogenous combustion of atmospheric and 8 atm pressure B/O/H/C systems over the temperature range 1800 K<T<3000 K. Coupled with previous work on isothermal B/O/H/C/ reacting systems, this work identifies a number of specific reaction mechanisms which require more thorough thermochemical and kinetic characterization.