The effects of ferrocene addition on soot particle inception and growth in premixed ethylene flames

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · Combust. Flame; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-2180(87)90156-8· OSTI ID:7246675

Ritrievi, K E; Longwell, J P; Sarofim, A F

The effects of the addition of dicyclopentadienyl iron, ferrocene, on soot particle inception and growth were studied in atmospheric pressure, premixed ethylene flames with C/O = 0.71-0.83 at 0.015-0.46% ferrocene by weight of the fuel. The rate of surface growth of soot in undoped and doped flames was measured using laser light scattering and light extinction techniques to determine the particle size and number density as a function of residence time in the flame. The final soot yields in the ferrocene doped flames were enhanced by factors of 13.5-1.2 over the range of flame C/O ratios studied. This enhancement decreased with increasing C/O ratio for the same concentration of iron in the flames. The spatial distribution of the elements iron and carbon in the particles was determined with Auger spectroscopy. The iron was found to be concentrated in the cores of the particles. The results of a steady-state one-dimensional nucleation model which indicated that the iron oxide particles would nucleate well in advance of the soot inception time were consistent with this elemental stratification and the observation of the onset of carbon deposition in doped flames at earlier residence times than in undoped flames of the same C/O ratio. The iron oxide particle sizes and number densities predicted from the model indicated that these particles were both numerous and small enough to be seed particles on which carbon deposition could take place. The importance of the activity of the surfaces of the solid in determining the rate of surface growth of soot was investigated.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US)
• OSTI ID: 7246675
• Journal Information: Combust. Flame; (United States), Vol. 70:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ETHYLENE
EMISSION
FERROCENE
SOOT
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AUGER ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
CARBON
CHEMICAL REACTION YIELD
COMBUSTION KINETICS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
FUEL ADDITIVES
IRON
LIGHT SCATTERING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEATION
ADDITIVES
ALKENES
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
COMPLEXES
DIENES
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
HYDROCARBONS
IRON COMPLEXES
KINETICS
METALS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYENES
REACTION KINETICS
SCATTERING
SPECTROSCOPY
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPLEXES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
YIELDS
400800* - Combustion
Pyrolysis
& High-Temperature Chemistry
400102 - Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)