GENERATION OF CARBON AEROSOLS BY FRAGMENTATION OF ACETYLENE IN A LASER-INDUCED PLASMA

One of the possible ways to generate carbon aerosols in the sub-microm eter range is the fragmentation of carbon-rich gases. In our case, the fragmentation is caused by the generation of a laser-induced plasma i n an acetylene/argon atmosphere. The particles are subsequently genera ted by homogeneous nucleation. With this technique it is possible to b uild an aerosol generator with an output of more than 0.8 g h-1 of ele mental carbon aerosol. The maximum of the size distribution of the gen erated particles varies in the range of 80-400 nm, when the ratio of a cetylene to argon is increased from 0.1 to 1.5. The size distribution and the morphological structure of the carbon particles is very simila r to real combustion aerosols. One of the applications of this aerosol generator could thus be the simulation of combustion aerosols, e. g. for testing diesel engine soot filters.