This project examines the ignition of combustible gases using hot particles with a diameter up to 1 mm as ignition source. The investigations will focus on the interplay between parameters and processes such as the number density and size of the particles, the particle temperature, the heat transfer from the particles to the gaseous mixture, the particle material, catalytic effects, as well as fluid flow and transport processes.

In the experiments, different particles will be suspended in a combustible gaseous mixture of varying composition and heated by different methods, depending on the particle material. The temperature of the particles will be measured by multi-wavelength pyrometry. In addition OH will be measured through OH* chemiluminescence. The measurements will be performed by a combination of a streak camera, spectrograph and 2-D intensified CCD-camera so that one dimension is the wavelength and the second dimension is time. In addition, for OH* emission a newly developed tomographic technique will be employed. The investigated fuels are diethyl ether, hydrogen, and ethylene, as is the case in the other sub-projects.

For the interpretation of the experimental results, the ignition process by hot particles will be numerically simulated using detailed chemical mechanisms and detailed transport models, which are developed in the other subprojects. In the first phase of the project, the gas phase is kept stationary or at laminar flow conditions so that no turbulence modeling is necessary. The focus of the numeric part of the project lies on the clarification of the interaction of the different processes leading to ignition by hot particles (mechanical sparks) of different (inert, catalytic, and reactive) materials.