Soot Measurements in High-Pressure Diffusion Flames of Gaseous and Liquid Fuels


Book Description

Methane-air, ethane-air, and n-heptane-air over-ventilated co-flow laminar diffusion flames were studied up to pressures of 2.03, 1.52, and 0.51 MPa, respectively, to determine the effect of pressure on flame shape, soot concentration, and temperature. A spectral soot emission optical diagnostic method was used to obtain the spatially resolved soot formation and temperature data. In all cases, soot formation was enhanced by pressure, but the pressure sensitivity decreased as pressure was increased. The maximum fuel carbon conversion to soot, etamax, was approximated by a power law dependence with the pressure exponent of 0.92 between 0.51 and 1.01 MPa, and 0.68 between 1.01 and 2.03 MPa with etamax=9.5% at 2.03 MPa for methane-air flames. For ethane-air flames, the pressure exponent was 1.57 between 0.20 and 0.51 MPa, 1.08 between 0.51 and 1.01 MPa, and 0.58 between 1.01 and 1.52 MPa where etamax=23% at 1.52 MPa. For nitrogen-diluted n-heptane-air flames, etamax=6.5% at 0.51 MPa.




Soot Formation in Non-premixed Laminar Flames at Subcritical and Supercritical Pressures


Book Description

An experimental study was conducted using axisymmetric co-flow laminar diffusion flames of methane-air, methane-oxygen and ethylene-air to examine the effect of pressure on soot formation and the structure of the temperature field. A liquid fuel burner was designed and built to observe the sooting behavior of methanol-air and n-heptane-air laminar diffusion flames at elevated pressures up to 50 atm. A non-intrusive, line-of-sight spectral soot emission (SSE) diagnostic technique was used to determine the temperature and the soot volume fraction of methane-air flames up to 60 atm, methane-oxygen flames up to 90 atm and ethylene-air flames up to 35 atm. The physical flame structure of the methane-air and methane-oxygen diffusion flames were characterized over the pressure range of 10 to 100 atm and up to 35 atm for ethylene-air flames. The flame height, marked by the visible soot radiation emission, remained relatively constant for methane-air and ethylene-air flames over their respected pressure ranges, while the visible flame height for the methane-oxygen flames was reduced by over 50 % between 10 and 100 atm. During methane-air experiments, observations of anomalous occurrence of liquid material formation at 60 atm and above were recorded. The maximum conversion of the carbon in the fuel to soot exhibited a strong power-law dependence on pressure. At pressures 10 to 30 atm, the pressure exponent is approximately 0.73 for methane-air flames. At higher pressures, between 30 and 60 atm, the pressure exponent is approximately 0.33. The maximum fuel carbon conversion to soot is 12.6 % at 60 atm. For methane-oxygen flames, the pressure exponent is approximately 1.2 for pressures between 10 and 40 atm. At pressures between 50 and 70 atm, the pressure exponent is about -3.8 and approximately -12 for 70 to 90 atm. The maximum fuel carbon conversion to soot is 2 % at 40 atm. For ethylene-air flames, the pressure exponent is approximately 1.4 between 10 and 30 atm. The maximum carbon conversion to soot is approximately 6.5 % at 30 atm and remained constant at higher pressures.




The Effect of Elevated Pressure on Soot Formation in a Laminar Jet Diffusion Flame


Book Description

Soot volume fraction (f[subscript sv]) is measured quantitatively in a laminar diffusion flame at elevated pressures up to 25 atmospheres as a function of fuel type in order to gain a better understanding of the effects of pressure on the soot formation process. Methane and ethylene are used as fuels; methane is chosen since it is the simplest hydrocarbon while ethylene represents a larger hydrocarbon with a higher propensity to soot. Soot continues to be of interest because it is a sensitive indicator of the interactions between combustion chemistry and fluid mechanics and a known pollutant. To examine the effects of increased pressure on soot formation, Laser Induced Incandescence (LII) is used to obtain the desired temporally and spatially resolved, instantaneous f[subscript sv] measurements as the pressure is incrementally increased up to 25 atmospheres. The effects of pressure on the physical characteristics of the flame are also observed. A laser light extinction method that accounts for signal trapping and laser attenuation is used for calibration that results in quantitative results. The local peak f[subscript sv] is found to scale with pressure as p[superscript 1.2] for methane and p[superscript 1.7] for ethylene.




Soot Formation in Combustion


Book Description

Soot Formation in Combustion represents an up-to-date overview. The contributions trace back to the 1991 Heidelberg symposium entitled "Mechanism and Models of Soot Formation" and have all been reedited by Prof. Bockhorn in close contact with the original authors. The book gives an easy introduction to the field for newcomers, and provides detailed treatments for the specialists. The following list of contents illustrates the topics under review:










Oxygen-Enhanced Combustion


Book Description

Combustion technology has traditionally been dominated by air/fuel combustion. However, two developments have increased the significance of oxygen-enhanced combustion - new technology producing oxygen less expensively and the increased importance of environmental regulations. Advantages of oxygen-enhanced combustion include numerous environmental benefits as well as increased energy efficiency and productivity. The text compiles information about using oxygen to enhance high temperature industrial heating and melting processes - serving as a unique resource for specialists implementing the use of oxygen in combustion systems; combustion equipment and industrial gas suppliers; researchers; funding agencies for advanced combustion technologies; and agencies developing regulations for safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly combustion systems. Oxygen-Enhanced Combustion: Examines the fundamentals of using oxygen in combustion, pollutant emissions, oxygen production, and heat transfer Describes ferrous and nonferrous metals, glass, and incineration Discusses equipment, safety, design, and fuels Assesses recent trends including stricter environmental regulations, lower-cost methods of producing oxygen, improved burner designs, and increasing fuel costs Emphasizing applications and basic principles, this book will act as the primary resource for mechanical, chemical, aerospace, and environmental engineers and scientists; physical chemists; fuel technologists; fluid dynamists; and combustion design engineers. Topics include: General benefits Economics Potential problems Pollutant emissions Oxygen production Adsorption Air separation Heat transfer Ferrous metals Melting and refining processes Nonferrous metals Minerals Glass furnaces Incineration Safety Handling and storage Equipment design Flow controls Fuels




Soot Formation in Propane-air Laminar Diffusion Flames at Elevated Pressures [microform]


Book Description

Laminar axisymmetric propane air diffusion flames were studied at pressures 0.1 to 0.725 MPa (1 to 7.25 atm). To investigate the effect of pressure on soot formation, radially resolved soot temperatures and soot volume fractions were deduced from soot radiation emission scans collected at various pressures using spectral soot emission (SSE). Overall flame stability was quite good as judged by the naked eye. Flame heights varied by 15% and flame axial diameters decreased by 30% over the entire pressure range.Analysis of temperature sensitivity to variations in E lambda(m) revealed that a change in E lambda(m) of +/-20% produced a change in local temperature values of about 75 to 100 K or about 5%.Temperatures decreased and soot concentration increased with increased pressure. More specifically, the peak soot volume fraction showed a power law dependence, fv ∝ Pn where n = 2.0 over the entire pressure range. The maximum integrated soot volume fraction also showed a power law relationship with pressure, f ̄v ∝ Pn where n = 3.4 for 1 ≤ P ≤ 2 atm and n = 1.4 for 2 ≤ P ≤ 7.25 atm. The percentage of fuel carbon converted to soot increased with pressure at a rate, etas ∝ Pn where n = 3.3 and n = 1.1 for 1 ≤ P ≤ 2 atm and 2 ≤ P ≤ 7.25 atm respectively.