Investigation of the effect of ethanol additives on the structure of low-pressure ethylene flames by photoionization mass spectrometry

Molecular beam mass spectrometry with photoionizationby synchrotron radiation was used to study the structure of flat premixed flames of C₂H₄/O₂/Ar and C₂H₄/C₂H₅OH/O₂/Ar at a pressure of 30 torr (4 kPa) with equivalence ratios ϕ = 1 and 2. It was shown that the replacement of part of ethylene with ethanol in the starting mixture lowered the concentration of a number of intermediate flame species, including soot precursors C₃H₃ and C₆H₆. These data are important for the development, analysis, and further improvement of detailed kinetic mechanisms for combustion of mixtures of hydrocarbon and oxygenated fuels.