A large-eddy-simulation study of soot formation in n-dodecane and biodiesel spray flames
(2027) Fuel : the science and technology of fuel and energy — Vol. 427, p. 139741 (2027)
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- In this article we report on numerical results for soot formation in n-dodecane and biodiesel spray flames, obtained via Large Eddy Simulations (LES). Emphasis is placed on the influence of the flame structure on the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of soot. The biodiesel fuel is a surrogate of Karanja Methyl Ester (KME), composed of n-dodecane and methyl butanoate and in our study we consider the well-known reactive Spray A configuration. In terms of combustion modeling, we employ a specific formulation of the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) approach that involves 4 control variables (progress variable, mixture fraction and their variances). Also, in our formulation, the temperature is computed directly from the energy equation rather than from the FGM database. Soot formation is described by a multi-step phenomenological model accounting for inception from acetylene and key Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), surface growth, coagulation, and oxidation by O2 and OH. The results show that soot formation in spray flames is controlled by the coupled interaction of fuel thermophysical properties, evaporation processes, and combustion chemistry. Despite similar ignition behavior, biodiesel develops a less rapidly spreading flame and produces markedly lower soot levels than n-dodecane. This reduction is linked to modified local mixture conditions and decreased availability of soot-forming precursors. Overall, the study highlights the strong sensitivity of soot evolution to fuel-dependent spray and flame characteristics and demonstrates the capability of the proposed LES–FGM framework for predictive simulations of soot in alternative-fuel spray combustion.
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Ponet, A., & Papalexandris, M. (2027). A large-eddy-simulation study of soot formation in n-dodecane and biodiesel spray flames. Fuel : the science and technology of fuel and energy, 427, 139741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2026.139741 (Original work published 2027)