Reaction of microparticles by the diffusion of reactive gases through porous shells

Abstract

A new experimental technique, single-particle electrodynamic balance (SPEB), was used to study the heterogeneous reaction between single acid droplets and basic gases. Experiments with phosphoric acid droplets and ammonia gas show that the droplet reaction dynamics are sequentially controlled by surface-phase, gas-phase diffusion-controlled, and porous-shell diffusion-controlled reactions. Gas-phase diffusion-controlled reactions terminate when ammonium phosphate crystallizes at the droplet surface, and porous-shell diffusion-controlled reactions become rate limiting. We derive a semiempirical model to describe the porous-shell diffusion-controlled reaction of acid droplets with surface layers of crystallized solids. The model is parametrized with an effective porous-shell diffusion coefficient to describe the transport of reactive gases through the porous shell. The model is compared to reaction data obtained from the SPEB for the reaction of phosphoric acid droplets layered with shells of ammonium phosphate. The characteristic pore radius of the porous shell is determined as a function of reaction condition.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 15, 1987
Source ID
10.1063/1.338050

Entities

People

  • Glenn O. Rubel

Tags

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Structural Dynamics.