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For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in a biodiesel spray flame, the morphology, microstructure and sizes of soot particles directly sampled in a spray flame fuelled with soy-methyl ester were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The soot samples were taken at different axial locations in the spray flame, 40, 50 and 70 mm from injector nozzle, which correspond to soot formation, peak, and oxidation zones, respectively. The biodiesel spray flame was generated in a constant-volume combustion chamber under a diesel-like high pressure and temperature condition (6.7 MPa, 1000K). Density, diameter of primary particles and radius of gyration of soot aggregates reached a peak at 50 mm from the injector nozzle and was lower or smaller in the formation or oxidation zones of the spray.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in diesel spray flame, the nanostructure of primary soot particles directly sampled in a diesel spray flame was investigated via High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). A single-shot diesel spray flame was achieved in a constant volume combustion vessel under diesel-like conditions (Ta=1000K, Pa=2.7 MPa) and a micro-grid for HRTEM observation was directly exposed to the spray flame to thermophoretically sample soot particles onto the grid surface. A preliminary nanostructure investigation was conducted for x500k magnification HRTEM images of soot particles directly sampled in diesel spray flames of Fischer-Tropsch Diesel (FTD) fuel seeded with naphthalene as a representative aromatic substance. A MATLAB code for HRTEM image processing and analysis of lattice fringes within primary soot particles was developed and used to characterize the length, tortuosity and separation of lattice fringes.