A Reaction pathway for Nanoparticle Formation in Rich Premixed Flames

Aromatics growth beyond 2-, 3-ring PAH is analyzed through a radical-molecule reaction mechanism which, in combination with a previously developed PAH model, is able to predict the size distribution of aromatic structures formed in rich premixed flames of ethylene at atmospheric pressure with C/O ratios across the soot threshold limit. Modeling results are in good agreement with experimental data and are used to interpret the ultraviolet absorption and the light scattering measured in flames before soot inception. The model shows that the total number concentration of high molecular mass aromatics and the different moments of the size distribution are functions of both the PAH and H-atom concentrations, two quantities which have different trends as functions of the residence time and the C/O ratio. Regimes of nearly stoichiometric or slightly rich premixed combustion are dominated by reactions between aromatics which lead to the formation of particles with sizes of the order of 3 to 4 nm. At higher C/O ratios the formation of nanoparticles is less efficient. Particles with sizes of the order of 2 nm are predicted in flames at the threshold of soot formation, whereas particles with sizes around 1 to 1.5 nm are predicted in fully sooting conditions.