Sooting behaviour of n-heptane laminar diffusion flames at high pressures

Abstract

The effect of pressure on sooting behaviour of n-heptane is studied in co-flow n-heptane/air laminar diffusion flames at pressures above atmospheric in a high pressure combustion chamber. The fuel is diluted with either nitrogen or helium to keep a non-smoking flame at elevated pressures, and the selected fuel mass flow rate of n-heptane provided diffusion flames in which the soot was completely oxidized within the visible flame envelope. The flame stability proved to be a challenge and stable flames were possible only at certain pressures for a sufficiently long duration to permit measurements. The soot volume fractions and temperatures were measured by spectral soot emission as a function of pressure for nitrogen-diluted n-heptane flames at 2, 5 and 7atm. For helium-diluted n-heptane flames, line of sight soot emission data at 3, 4, and 5atm are presented at two heights above the burner exit. Comparison of limited nitrogen-diluted n-heptane data to previous measurements of soot yields indicate that soot formation in diffusion flames of n-heptane seems to be slightly more sensitive to pressure than that in aliphatic gaseous fuel diffusion flames within the pressure range considered in this work.