On burning of magnesium powder with water

An experimental study of combustion of magnesium powder with liquid water and with gelatinous water was carried out. The limits of combustion wave propagation and the velocity of combustion wave in cylindrical charges 10 and 30 mm in diameter were determined, which can reach 3.3 mm/s in mixture with water and 4.5 mm/s in mixture with water thickened with hydrogel at mixture density in charges within 0.6–0.98 g/cm³. A new way of intensification of combustion is proposed that allows increasing the amount of water by 10%–18% compared to the combustion of homogeneous mixtures in the charge, in which complete combustion of magnesium is possible without a combustion promoter. It is shown that the degree of chemical conversion of magnesium into reaction products exceeded 85% in almost all experiments. These studies can be useful in creating promising hydrojet and hydrogen-generating charges.