KINETIC MODEL OF OXIDATION AND SELF-IGNITION OF TRIETHYL ALUMINUM IN AIR
A model for the heterogeneous interaction of air oxygen with fuel (triethyl aluminum) microdroplets is proposed. It is assumed that the main reaction responsible for the self-ignition of a stoichiometric mixture of fuel with air is the reaction of the intrusion of oxygen molecules into fuel molecules with the subsequent monomolecular decomposition of the intrusion product and the release of light hydrocarbon radicals into the gas phase. The rate of release was determined depending on the size of the microdroplets and the activation energy of the intrusion reaction rate constant. In the gas phase, the radicals interact with oxygen, generating other sequential and parallel reactions, the same as in the gas-phase kinetics of oxidation, ignition, and combustion of light alkanes (methane, ethane, and butane) and their derivatives. Chemical kinetic schemes and the corresponding kinetic equations as well as algorithms and codes relevant to such gas-phase processes exist and are intended to be used for the numerical solution of the problem of triethyl aluminum self-ignition.