Jy. Hwang et al., SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF ETHYLENE-PROPANE MIXTURE ON SOOT FORMATION IN LAMINAR DIFFUSION FLAMES, Combustion and flame, 114(3-4), 1998, pp. 370-380
Sooting characteristics in laminar diffusion flames have been studied
experimentally for ethylene-propane mixtures, and a synergistic effect
from mixture fuels has been observed. Soot volume fraction and polycy
clic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration are increased when a sma
ll amount of propane is added to ethylene diffusion flames. Considerin
g C2H2 concentrations and adiabatic flame temperatures, the experiment
al results indicate that H-abstraction-C2H2-addition (HACA) reaction a
lone is insufficient to explain soot inception and growth processes in
diffusion flames of ethylene-propane mixtures. The synergistic effect
of fuel mixture is discussed, emphasizing the importance of C-3 recom
bination reaction during the initial ring formation process for incipi
ent PAHs. The results of soot number density and particle size in low-
temperature soot growth region also support continuous soot inception
via PAH agglomeration. Therefore, it is suggested that PAHs are direct
ly involved in the soot particle inception processes. The synergistic
effect is less significant for ethylene-ethane mixtures compared to et
hylene-propane mixtures. (C) 1998 by The Combustion Institute.