Effects of fuel-bound methyl groups and fuel flow rate in the diffusion flames of aromatic fuels on the formation of volatile PAHs

Aromatic hydrocarbons constitute a significant fraction of fossil-derived transportation fuels. They are also used as additives to suppress autoignition and to increase fuel energy density. However, they produce harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot during combustion. In this work, the effects of methyl group(s) and the flow rate of aromatic fuels (benzene, toluene, and m-xylene) on the concentration of volatile PAHs bound to soot formed in diffusion flames are studied. Soxhlet extraction using dichloromethane as the solvent is used to extract PAHs from soot particles collected from the flames of aromatic fuels. The extracts are analyzed using a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer. Among the sixteen priority PAHs, fifteen of them are detected on soot particles along with benzo(e)pyrene and other organic compounds such as oxygenated compounds and mono-aromatic hydrocarbons. The PAHs containing two to three aromatic rings were found to be in higher concentrations than those with four or more rings. The total amount of PAHs collected at different fuel flow rates from the three aromatic fuels increased marginally in the following order: benzene < toluene < m-xylene. With increasing fuel flow rate, while the soot emission increased drastically, the concentration of volatile PAHs increased nearly linearly at a very slow rate. The toxicity of soot particles from different flames with increasing fuel flow rate is also reported.