Influence of Zr on the activation energy of oxidation in the RBAO process

It was reported that Zr metal additions accelerate the RBAO process by reducing the activation energy (ΔH) of the Al → Al 2 O 3 reaction. In this paper, the function of Zr was reexamined. It is concluded that the lower ΔH value observed previously with Zr additions is rather an apparent integral activation energy composed of the oxidation of both Al and Zr.