Emission spectroscopy of flame fronts in aluminum suspensions

Spatially resolved emission spectra from Bunsen-type flames stabilized in aluminum suspensions in air and oxygen–argon/helium mixtures were obtained using a mechanical-optical scanning system. A low resolution (1.5 nm) spectrometer was used to acquire the broad spectra over the 350–1000 nm range, and a high-resolution (0.04 nm) instrument was used for observation of AlO molecular bands and non-ionized atomic aluminum. The temperature of condensed phase emitters in the flame was derived using polychromatic fitting of the continuum spectra to Planck’s law. AlO temperature was found by fitting of the theoretically calculated shape of the band to experimental data. Peak temperatures of the condensed emitters were found to be approximately 3250 K in aluminum-air flames and approximately 3350 K for oxygen–argon/helium flames. Temperatures derived from AlO spectra coincide with the temperature of the condensed emitters with measurement accuracy and are only 100–200 °C lower than the computed equilibrium flame temperatures. The radial distribution of the temperature profile of the continuous emitters was found via Abel deconvolution and recovered the double-front structure of the Bunsen flame cone, with the outer flame being attributed to a diffusion flame of the fuel-rich products with ambient air. The observation of atomic aluminum lines seen in emission from the outer flame edge and partial self-absorption from the inner flame confirms the structure associated with the double-front structure. The implications of these results for the regime of particle combustion in a dust flame are discussed.