Identification of oxygenated compounds in combustion systems

An attempt for the spectroscopic identification of oxygenated compounds produced in combustion processes under different environmental conditions is reported in this paper. A deeper knowledge about presence and evolution of such species in dependence of the operating conditions of practical burner represents a fundamental hint to the objective of an advancement of the control of combustion process and reduction of pollutant emissions. This paper mainly focuses on species characterized by the presence of carbonyl functionality since aldehydes, ketones and diketones are among the principal intermediate species and products of hydrocarbon oxidation. They are by themselves to be considered atmospheric pollutants and are also indicators of actual pathways followed during the chemical reactions occurring in the combustion process. For these reasons they are most suitable for the exploitation of the above indicated objectives. In this paper, a classification of spectroscopic features and markers of these classes of carbonyl compounds is presented on the basis of both literature and spectra collected from sample species. This interpretative scheme is then used for the attribution of fluorescence signals collected from a tetradecane spray in different environmental conditions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.