Simulation Study of Light Scattering from Soot Agglomerates

Abstract

Simulation studies can be of considerable help in clarifying measurement techniques in that “complete” information on the system being investigated is available. This point is illustrated here where a Langevin dynamics model of the formation of sooty smoke via an agglomeration process is used to determine what sort of information is available in light scattering measurements. [1] It is generally accepted that soot forms by agglomeration of small, roughly spherical particles which are composed mainly of carbon. [2] The typical size of these particles, which we refer to as primary particles, is on the order of 20–40 nm. These primary particles diffuse and occasionally stick together forming agglomerates which continue to diffuse and grow. The resulting clusters have an open structure which can be characterized by a fractal dimension, d, which is a useful statistical measure for classifying geometrically irregular objects. [3]