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Author
Miller, J. H. | Mallard, W. G. | Smyth, K. C.
Title
Condensation of PAH During the Soot Formation Process.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
Book or Conf
Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons: International Symposium on Formation, Metabolism and Measurement, 7th. 1982, Battelle Press, Columbus, OH, Cooke, M. W. and Dennis, A. J., Editors, 921-927 p., 1982
Keywords
soot formation | polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons | chemical reactions | computation | intermolecular potential | thermodynamic properties
Identifiers
condensation; hydrocarbon flames; physical process
Abstract
Soot formation in hydrocarbon flames is kinetically controlled and occurs in short times (1-10 msec to reach particle diameters of ~500 A). This constraint of rapid formation limits the possible chemical processes which may form soot. In order to choose from among these pathways, it is important to distinguish the boundary between distinct chemical steps and the physical process of condensation. At some point in the growth of large species, chemical reaction between two colliding molecules of similar size is no longer a necessary condition for sticking, i.e., the magnitude of the attractive van der Waals potentials will be sufficiently large relative to the kinetic energy of the other molecules in the bath that a dimer will be formed and will survive.