Soot particle aerosol dynamics at high pressure

Abstract

We have used detailed calculations to analyze the coagulation dynamics of a soot eerosol at high pressures (20 and 50 atm). We find that the soot size distribution is altered compared to lower-pressure conditions because the mean free path at high pressures is reduced to the point that the particles are similar in size to the mean free path. At lower pressures the form of the size distribution becomes constant (“self-preserving”) in time, allowing optical measurements to be easily interpreted. However, we find that at pressures above about 5 atm the shape of the size distribution continually changes. As a result, proper and accurate interpretation of optical data at high pressures will be more difficult than at lower pressures.