Effects of hydrogen enrichment and water vapour dilution on soot formation in laminar ethylene counterflow flames

Abhijit Kalbhor (Corresponding author), Jeroen A. van Oijen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)
128 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Effects of simultaneous, together with separate addition of hydrogen to the fuel and water vapour to the oxidizer on soot formation in laminar, counterflow ethylene diffusion flames at atmospheric pressure were studied numerically. A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-based sectional soot model coupled with detailed gas-phase chemistry, was used to investigate the underlying chemical pathways of soot formation. In agreement to available studies, the results showed that, in addition to the dilution effects, the fuel-side enrichment of hydrogen and/or oxidizer side dilution of water vapour suppress the soot formation through chemical effects. The reduction in soot formation through chemical effects of H2 and H2O addition is mainly attributed to the reduced rates of soot surface growth due to suppression of the H-abstraction reaction in the hydrogen-abstraction-C2H2-addition (HACA) sequence as a result of an increased molecular hydrogen concentration. The simulations indicate that the chemical effects tend to increase PAH concentration within the soot formation region, which results in increased soot nucleation rates and number density. However, the contribution of soot nucleation in the overall soot formation process becomes secondary, while the soot surface growth predominantly governs the chemically inhibiting effects of H2 and H2O addition. Compared to separate addition, simultaneous addition of hydrogen to the fuel and water vapour to the oxidizer proves to be more effective in soot suppression for the same dilution level, since there exist weak synergistic effects between H2 and H2O. The numerical analysis further demonstrates that the separate, as well as simultaneous addition of H2 and H2O, tend to decrease the number density of larger-sized particles, causing the reduction in average soot particle size.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)23653-23673
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume45
Issue number43
Early online date1 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Sept 2020

Funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme under the ESTiMatE project (www.estimate-project.eu), grant agreement No. 821418. The authors would like to thank Dr. C. A. Hoerlle for useful discussions on the soot model used in the study. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under the ESTiMatE project ( www.estimate-project.eu ), grant agreement No. 821418 . The authors would like to thank Dr. C. A. Hoerlle for useful discussions on the soot model used in the study.

FundersFunder number
European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme
European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme821418

    Keywords

    • Counterflow diffusion flames
    • Hydrogen addition
    • Soot formation
    • Water vapour dilution

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of hydrogen enrichment and water vapour dilution on soot formation in laminar ethylene counterflow flames'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this