Structural Effects of Biodiesel on Soot Volume Fraction in a Laminar Co-Flow Diffusion Flame

Abstract Structural effects of biodiesel in terms of unsaturation, i.e. C=C double bonds, its position and the presence of the ester moiety on soot formation are studied in this paper. Laminar coflow diffusion flames of 5-decene, 1-decene, n-decane, and a biodiesel surrogate consisting of a 50%/50% molar blend of n-decane and methyl-octanoate are selected for the investigation. It is observed that the presence of unsaturation promotes soot formation in the flames by increasing soot chemical surface growth species and soot inception species (aromatics) as it is evident from the larger primary particle size and number density of soot particles in the 1-decene, and 5-decene flames compared to the n-decane flame, respectively. More centrally located C=C double bond further speeds up soot inception as it promotes the formation of aromatic species. This is also evident from earlier detection of soot on the centerline and higher soot primary particle number density of the 5-decene flame compared to 1-decene and n-decane flames measured by the laser extinction and thermophoretic sampling methods, respectively. Effects of the ester moiety on soot formation are more on the concentrations of soot chemical surface growth species because the biodiesel surrogate flame has similar number density of primary particles compared to the n-decane flame but soot primary particles have smaller diameters.