Determination of the Rate Constant for Soot Surface Growth

Abstract

Abstract The total mass of soot in a premixed flat flame increases steeply with time through a process known as surface growth. In this paper we show that the surface growth rate is first order in the acetylene concentration, and we measure the apparent first order rate constant. We also show that the surface growth rate is not strongly temperature dependent, It is suggested that the C/H ratio of the soot may be important in determining its reactivity.