Temperature and concentration effects of inert addition on soot formation in a counterflow diffusion flame

Conference · Wed Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5142698

Axelbaum, R L; Flower, W L; Law, C K

The effects of temperature and fuel concentration on soot formation have been investigated by adding a gaseous insert to the fuel of a counterflow diffusion flame. The methodology used involves diluting ethylene with nitrogen to change the fuel concentration and then adjusting the maximum temperature of the diluted flame back to the temperature of the undiluted flame by substituting like quantities of nitrogen for argon on the oxidizer side. In this way the authors are able to isolate the effects of temperature and dilution and actually quantify the change in the soot production rate for a change in either temperature or concentration. Soot quantities are determined by using light-scattering and extinction techniques, flame temperatures are measured with a thermocouple, and velocity measurements are obtained by laser-Doppler velocimetry. The results show that both temperature and dilution contribute to a reduction in soot volume fraction when nitrogen is added to the fuel, although dilution accounts for most of the reduction. The soot formation rate is found to be linearly dependent on the initial fuel concentration.

• OSTI ID: 5142698
• Report Number(s): CONF-870484-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
025000* -- Petroleum-- Combustion
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALKENES
ARGON
COMBUSTION CONTROL
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONTROL
DIFFUSION
DILUTION
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
ENRICHMENT
ETHYLENE
FLAMES
FLUIDS
FUELS
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
INERT ATMOSPHERE
INHIBITION
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDIZERS
QUANTITY RATIO
RARE GASES
SOOT
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
THERMAL DIFFUSION