Soot size distribution in lightly sooting premixed flames of benzene and toluene

The evolution of particle size distribution function (PSDF) of soot in premixed flames of benzene and toluene was studied on a burner stabilized stagnation (BSS) flame platform. The cold gas velocities were changed to hold the maximum flame temperatures of different flames approximately constant. The PSDFs of all the test flames exhibited a bimodal distribution, i.e., a small-size nucleation mode and a large-size accumulation mode. It was observed that soot nucleation and particle growth in the benzene flame were stronger than those in the toluene flame at short residence times. At longer residence times, the PSDFs of the two flames were similar, and the toluene flame showed a larger particle size distribution range and a higher particle volume fraction than the benzene flame.