Unified behaviour of maximum soot yields of methane, ethane and propane laminar diffusion flames at high pressures

Soot concentration and temperature distributions within the flame envelope of laminar diffusion flames of methane and ethane at elevated pressures were measured in a high-pressure combustion chamber. Methane measurements were made with two different fuel flow rates: 0.43 mg/s (0.32 mg/s carbon flow rate) for the pressure range of 15-60 atm, and 0.83 mg/s for the pressure range of 5-20 atm (0.62 mg/s carbon flow rate). For the ethane flames, the flow rate was 0.78 mg/s (0.62 mg/s carbon flow rate) and the pressure range was 2-15 atm. From the soot concentration distribution, soot yields were calculated as a function of flame height and pressure. Maximum soot yields from the current study and the previous measurements in similar flames with methane, ethane, and propane flames were shown to display a unified behaviour. Maximum soot yields, when scaled properly, were represented by an empirical exponential function in terms of the reduced pressure, actual pressure divided by the critical pressure of the fuel. The maximum soot yield seems to reach a plateau asymptotically as the pressure exceeds the critical pressure of the fuel. (C) 2011 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.