Fullerene formation in atmospheric pressure opposed flow oxy-flames

Samples of condensable material from opposed flow diffusion flames of methane and acetylene and oxygen enriched air at atmospheric pressure were collected and analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography to determine the fullerene yield. High resolution transmission electron microscopy studies revealed the presence of fullerenes and well-defined carbon layers with various degrees of curvature. Results show that fullerene formation strongly increases with the acetylene content in the fuel. Increasing strain rate positively affects the fullerene content in the condensable material; higher strain rate flames favor fullerenes over soot, indicating lower fullerene consumption by soot due to lower soot concentration. If the oxygen content in the oxidizing oxygen/nitrogen mixture is increased, fullerene concentration increases due to the higher temperatures and higher precursor concentration. Similar relative variations of fullerene concentrations with flame conditions are predicted by the numerical model. However, the absolute concentrations of fullerenes are, in general, underpredicted by 4 orders of magnitude. This result can be partially attributed to uncertainties in the rate coefficients for H-abstraction and C2H2-addition. This discrepancy also suggests that other important fullerene formation pathways are to be included in the numerical model.