Structural characterization of carbonaceous combustion-chamber deposits

The structural properties of combustion-chamber deposits (CCDs) are studied by combining molecular simulation of adsorption in a set of model pores with experimental adsorption measurements, using ethane as the adsorptive. The implemented approach is a modification of the common method used to determine the pore size distribution (PSD) of manufactured carbon adsorbents, changed in order to take into account the higher degree of chemical and physical heterogeneity of CCDs. The realism of the PSD obtained is demonstrated by accurately predicting adsorption under a range of conditions. The general applicability of the method is tested by transferring a characteristic parameter of CCDs (and different from the corresponding parameter in manufactured carbon adsorbents) from one sample to another.