• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2007

An optical method to measure the size and number density of soot aggregates in diesel exhaust has been proposed in this study. Two laser beams in co-axial alignment transmit a soot loaded exhaust gas flow, and the transmittance at each wavelength is detected by a photo diode simultaneously. The volume equivalent diameter and number density of soot aggregates in the optical path can be theoretically given by the transmittance values measured at two wavelengths. A test conducted by a single cylinder, 4 cycle, small and DI diesel engine shows that the temporal variations of the size and number density of soot aggregates in the diesel exhaust can be measured by the proposed method at a transient mode operation. It is found that the volume equivalent diameter varied temporally from 70 to 110 nm during the period that high soot concentration is observed. One can also conclude that the optical length longer than 1 m in the dynamic range regarding this method is preferable for measuring soot concentration at the level of $1\;mg/m^3$.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.641-646
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• 2016

Soot particles generated by fossil fuel combustion normally have fractal morphology with aggregates consisting of small spherical particles. Thus, Rayleigh or Mie elastic light scattering theory is not feasible for determining the fractal properties of soot aggregates. This paper describes a detailed process for applying Rayleigh-Debye Gans (RDG) scattering theory to effectively extract the morphological properties of any nano-scale particles. The fractal geometry of soot aggregates produced from an isooctane diffusion flame was observed using ex situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after thermophoretic sampling. RDG scattering theory was then used to analyze their fractal morphology, and various properties were calculated, such as the diameter of individual soot particles, number density, and volume fraction. The results show indiscernible changes during the soot growth process, but a distinct decreasing trend was observed in the soot oxidation process. The fractal dimension of the soot aggregates was determined to be around 1.82, which is in good agreement with that produced for other types of fuel. Thus, it can be concluded that the value of the fractal dimension is independent of the fuel type.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.496-506
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• 2001

The effect of corona discharge on soot emission was experimentally investigated. Size and number concentrations of soot aggregates were measured and compared for various voltages. Regardless of the polarity of the applied voltage, the flame length decreased and the tip of flame spreaded with increasing voltage. For the experimental conditions selected, the flame was blown off toward the ground electrode by corona ionic wind. When the negative applied voltage was greater than 3kV(for electrode spacing = 3.5cm), soot particles in inception or growth region were affected by the corona discharge, resulting in the reduction of number concentration. The results show that the ionic wind favored soot oxidation and increased flame temperature. Number concentration and primary particle size greatly increased, when the corona electrodes were located the region of soot nucleation or growth(close to burner mouth).