Understanding soot particle size evolution in laminar ethylene/air diffusion flames using novel soot coalescence models

Abstract

Two coalescence models based on different merging mechanisms are introduced. The effects of the soot coalescence process on soot particle diameter predictions are studied using a detailed sectional aerosol dynamic model. The models are applied to a laminar ethylene/air diffusion flame, and comparisons are made with experimental data to validate the models. The implementation of coalescence models significantly improves the agreement of prediction of particle diameters with the experimental data. Sensitivity of the soot prediction to the coalescence parameters is analysed. Finally, an update to the coalescence model based on experimental observations of soot particles in the flame oxidation regions has been introduced to improve its predicting capabilities.

Keywords:

• soot particle
• coalescence model
• particle size evolution
• laminar diffusion flame

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Dr Nadezhda A. Slavinskaya and Prof. Uwe Riedel of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for providing the DLR reaction mechanism. Computations were performed on the GPC supercomputer at the SciNet HPC Consortium.

Supplementary Data

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13647830.2015.1169319.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for financial support [grant number RGPIN-2015-04699]. SciNet is funded by: the Canada Foundation for Innovation under the auspices of Compute Canada; the Government of Ontario; Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence; and the University of Toronto.