Thesis of Kanika Sood

Defense of thesis Kanika Sood - laboratory PC2A

Abstract :

Biofuels and other biomass-derived chemicals are now considered as a vital part of sustainable energy portfolio, where they promise to contribute to our society’s energy security. Despite the undeniable interest presented by these biofuels, their combustion processes are likely to enhance the formation of OPAHs (Oxygenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) which may eventually contribute to the formation of soot, and may as well profoundly modify its properties. The work carried out in this thesis focused on the identification and quantification of the oxygenated aromatics formed during the combustion of a lignin-based biofuel in flame conditions. Laminar premixed flames of anisole (surrogate model compound for biomass) and hydrocarbon fuel blends (iso-octane and methane) have been investigated using Advanced Gas Chromatography. In this context, we implemented a sample enrichment technique (sample pre-concentration trap) with a set of in situ and ex situ chromatographic analysis (1D GC-MS, 1D GC-SPT-FID and 2D GC-MS) which enabled us to identify a large panel of different oxygenated (~100) aromatics. These results were then used to analyze the fuel decomposition pathways that lead to the formation of OPAHs. Together with identification, this thesis provides a detailed quantitative experimental database in terms of the evolution of the mole fraction with respect to the flame height for several oxygenated and associated non-oxygenated aromatics. Other biofuels like 2,5-DMF and ethanol were also studied and experimental results showed that the different molecular structures of biofuels lead to significant differences in the formation of intermediate species and pollutants. This work also highlights crucial information concerning the amount and the size of soot particles formed in such flames using LII and SMPS. Preliminary results from soot measurements indicate that the soot particle size in these flames is very small (<10 nm).

Keywords : biofuels,OPAHs,soot,combustions,kinetics,premixed flame