Physical Mechanisms of Carbon Formation in Flames.

Abstract

The size, size distribution, number concentration, and number charged of carbon particles down to about 15 A diameter in a flat acetylene-oxygen flame at 20 mm Hg were measured using a molecular beam sampling system combined with electrical deflection of the beam and electron microscope analysis of beam deposits. Coagulation of carbon particles occurs at all positions sampled in the flame. This process and surface growth form particle clusters that gradually change from roughly spherical at early and intermediate stages of growth to chainlike in the flame tail. The particle size distribution changes from Gaussian in the early stages of carbon formation to lognormal in the later stages. Particle number concentration and the rate of nucleation and coagulation each exhibit a maximum soon after the onset of carbon formation, but the rate of surface growth is maximum initially. The number fraction of charged particles is 10 to 40%. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD0744920

Entities

People

  • B. L. Wersborg
  • G. C. Williams
  • J. B. Howard

Organizations

  • Purdue University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acetylenes
  • Alkynes
  • Charged Particles
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Electron Microscopes
  • Electrons
  • Engineering
  • Microscopes
  • Molecular Beams
  • Particle Size
  • Particles

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Mathematics or Statistics

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics