49 Quantifying the soot volume fraction in flames from a range of advanced burner designs

Fields:

Combustion Research, Laser Diagnostics, Data Processing

Supervisors:

Dr. Gus Nathan and Dr Zeyad Alwahabi

Moderator:

 

Number of Students:

2

Description:

One mechanism for reducing NOx emissions from gas flames is to increase the amount of soot in the flame. This is because soot particles radiate energy more effectively than do gases. Precessing Jet nozzles have been found to achieve increased heat transfer and reduced NOx emissions solely by changing the mixing characteristics of the jet. As such they have significant industrial application. While the link between the above benefits and the presence of soot is known, the actual differences in soot concentration in the flames has yet to be quantified.

A laser diagnostic technique for measuring soot concentration has been developed as part of a 2001 final year project in Chemical Engineering. The project will involve use of this technique to quantify soot volume fraction in a range of flames for which other information is already available.

The project should result in publishable data and keen students can expect to be able to produce a conference or journal paper from the project. It will therefore be of interest to anyone seeking to pursue a career in research and/or laser diagnostics. It is best performed with two students, since two people are required in the laboratory for safety reasons.