Experimental Study on Distribution of Acetylene and Soot in Propane/Air Triple Flames

ABSTRACT

An experimental investigation has been conducted for the determination of the concentration distribution of acetylene (C₂H₂) and soot volume fractions across two propane/air triple flames. The flames are established on an axi-symmetric, co-flowing burner by issuing a rich mixture of propane and air through the inner port and a lean mixture through the annular port. The values of the equivalence ratios have been varied in the two flames. The concentration of acetylene is measured with gas chromatography and the soot volume fractions are measured by using the thermocouple particle densitometry (TPD) method. In both the flames, the concentration of acetylene along the centerline increases from zero at a height of 5 mm from the burner exit to a peak value and then decreases. The peak acetylene concentration and its location on the centerline are higher in the flame with higher inner equivalence ratio. Similar trends are also observed for the centerline distributions of soot volume fraction in the flames. But the locations of peak soot volume fractions are above those of peak acetylene concentrations in the respective flames. The concentration of acetylene at a height of 40 mm in the second flame decreases gradually from a peak value of 1% at the center to zero at a radial location of 5 mm. But the soot volume fraction at this height of the flame is almost uniform from the center up to 1.9 mm radial location and vanishes thereafter.

Keywords: Triple flame, Acetylene, Soot, Gas chromatography, TPD method.

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