COMBUSTION KINETICS OF PARTICULATE BORON.

Abstract : Initial combustion studies were performed with amorphous boron levitated in an electrostatic suspension cage, in an air atmosphere, and ignited by the output of a pulsed neodymium-doped glass laser operating at 1.06 microns. The particles are suspended in the quadrupole cage composed of four parallel rods, in the form of a square, and two end plates. Opposing pairs of the rods are connected and an AC potential of about 1500 volts is applied to the pairs. The frequency is adjusted to about 80 cycles. The lower plate of the system is held at 720 volts positive and the upper plate at 240 volts positive. The particles are charged with a Tesla coil and some fraction of the particles, having appropriate charge and mass, remain suspended in the field and become the subject for study. (Author)