An Engine and Shock Tube Study in Combustion Soot Measurement

Abstract

Soot phenomena in combustion have been an interesting topic in combustion research for a long time. Study of soot includes identifying reaction pathways leading to soot and developing innovative techniques and apparatus to measure soot. In this research, two separate experiments are conducted to explore possible new ways to study soot formation mechanisms in combustion. The first experiment employs a miniature engine to prove the feasibility of coupling high pressure reactors with synchrotron sourced photoionization mass spectrometry and probing species concentration in the combustion chamber and the exhaust. The second experiment demonstrates the feasibility of measuring extremely low level scattering signals by employing a high repetition rate shock tube and sensitive optical components to quantitatively measure the number density and size distribution of soot generated in the shock tube. Technical challenges and solutions of conducting the two experiments will be presented in details. Results of the two experiments will be discussed and potential improvements in the future will be given regarding the results of the currents experiments.