Some constraints on soot particle inception in premixed ethylene flames

Abstract

We examined the effects of incremental amounts of fuel on soot formation in premixed ethylene flames. The incremental fuel was either ethylene or toluene, and to the extent possible the flames were otherwise kept similar. We found that increments of carbon introduced as ethylene were just as effective at increasing soot formation as increments of carbon introduced as toluene. We interpret this result to mean that the soot formation process in our ethylene flames is not limited by the concentration of benzene or toluene and that flame environment rather than fuel structure dominates in determining sooting propensity in our flames.