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Study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in hydrogen-enriched methane diffusion flames

Ezenwajiaku, C; Talibi, M; Doan, NAK; Swaminathan, N; Balachandran, R; (2019) Study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in hydrogen-enriched methane diffusion flames. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy , 44 (14) pp. 7642-7655. 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.01.253. Green open access

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Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the carcinogenic components of soot. Detailed understanding of PAH formation characteristics is required for development of effective strategies to curtail PAH formation and reduce soot in combustion devices. This study presents an experimental methodology to analyse PAH formation characteristics of a non-premixed methane-air flame with and without hydrogen (H2) addition, using simultaneous planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of PAH and hydroxyl radical (OH). OH PLIF was used to represent peak temperature regions in the flame front. One-dimensional, opposed-jet laminar non-premixed flame simulations were also carried out for the same fuel mixture conditions. This work describes comparison of trends from both sets of studies. PAH fluorescence intensity values were observed to increase with increasing height above burner, however this rate of increase reduced with H2 addition. This observed rate of change in PAH fluorescence (that is, PAH growth characteristics) is indicative of the sooting potential of the fuel mixture. PAH fluorescence from experiments and PAH concentration from simulation show strong reduction with increase in H2 addition. The percentage reduction in PAH fluorescence signal with H2 addition closer to the burner tip was of a similar magnitude to that observed with flame simulations. The reduction in PAH with H2 addition could be attributed to the reduction in acetylene and propargyl concentrations, and reduced H-abstraction rates, which reduced the availability of active sites for PAH growth. The proposed experimental methodology for PAH measurements can be readily applied to any fuel mixtures.

Type: Article
Title: Study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in hydrogen-enriched methane diffusion flames
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.01.253
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.01.253
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; soot; hydrogen; inverse diffusion flames; PLIF; OH
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10071760
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