The nature of laminar non-premixed methane-air flames is studied over the pressure range of 0.5 to 4 MPa using a new high pressure combustion chamber outfitted with Spectral Soot Emission (SSE) and Line-Of-Sight Attenuation (LOSA) diagnostics for measurement of radially resolved soot volume fraction and soot temperature. The experiments are designed to develop improved diagnostics applicable in high pressure flame studies, as well as to improve understanding of the influence of pressure on soot formation. Improved soot formation, growth and oxidation mechanisms that incorporate the influence of pressure have wide applicability in the design and modelling of practical combustion systems operating at elevated pressures. With increasing awareness of the effects of particulates on health and the environment, as well as new legislation on particulate emissions, there is a need to study the physics of soot formation in order to develop strategies and designs to reduce soot emissions from practical combustion systems.
This research had been conducted in collaboration with Prof. Ö. Gülder at University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) and Drs. G. Smallwood, D. Snelling and K. Thomson at NRC-ICPET.