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MODELING CHAR OXIDATION AS A FUNCTION OF PRESSURE ...

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Task and Methodology<br />

Task<br />

One of the tasks of this aspect of the study was to find a correction function to<br />

improve the accuracy of the general asymptotic solution method in the intermediate range<br />

of M T for both the Langmuir and m-th order rate equations;<br />

Since catalytic pellets and solid fuel particles usually have shapes that can be<br />

approximated more or less by spheres, rather than by semi-infinite flat-slabs or infinite<br />

cylinders, this study focuses on analytical and numerical solutions in spherical<br />

coordinates. For simplicity, this study is limited to the following conditions:<br />

a) Isothermal conditions (no temperature gradients in the particle).<br />

b) No volume-change resulting from reactions (equi-molar counter-diffusion in the pores<br />

of the particle).<br />

c) Irreversible reactions.<br />

d) Two intrinsic reaction rate forms (m-th order and Langmuir rate equations).<br />

e) Limits of zero and unity for the reaction order in the m-th order rate form.<br />

Numerical Methods<br />

A numerical model of diffusion of oxidizer through the particle interior was<br />

developed in order to test the accuracy of the Thiele modulus approaches. The<br />

concentration of oxidizer in the particle interior can be described by an ordinary<br />

differential equation and two boundary conditions. The generalized steady-state<br />

continuity equation in a spherical particle (a catalytic pellet or a solid fuel particle) may<br />

be expressed as (Smith, 1981):<br />

29

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