Measurements and modeling of SiCl4 combustion in a low-pressure H2/O2 flame

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) was used to measure temperature and OH concentration profiles as a function of distance from a McKenna-style burner in premixed one-dimensional low-pressure H2/O2/Ar SiCl4-doped flames. The addition of SiCl4 was shown to affect the flame temperature and OH concentration profiles. A gas-phase chemical kinetics mechanism for the combustion of SiCl4 in an H2/O2/Ar flame was proposed, and experimental results were compared with predictions for a premixed one-dimensional laminar flame model based on CHEMKIN. The low-pressure flame data are sensitive to the overall kinetics of the mechanism. In order to obtain the best fit to the observed data for all flame configurations, we had to modify six different rates from our original estimates. None of the modified rates are well known for the temperature regime of our flame. Particle formation and surface chemistry were not taken into account.