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Chemiions; Combustion; Ion clusters; Fuel sulfur conversion
Abstract:
An estimation of the conversion efficiency (ε) of fuel sulfur to SO3 and H2SO4, where ε = ([SO3] + [H2SO4])/[ST] and [ST] is the total sulfur atom concentration in the exhaust at the exit of an aircraft gas-turbine combustor, was derived from measurements by comparison with model results. The major results of the presented CIMS experiments and their interpretation with a model simulation are: (i) The efficiency is ε = 2.3 ± 1 % at an exhaust age of about 5 ms from the combustor exit; (ii) The SO3 molecules represent a major fraction of sulfur (VI) gases εA < 50 % and an essential SO3-conversion to H2SO4 takes place in the sampling line where the exhaust gases spend a sufficiently long time and where the temperature is lower than in the hot exhaust. The coincidence of ε from our work (measurements with the sampling point in the exhaust just behind the combustor exit) and ε the measurements in an exhaust at a plume age of about 1 s suggests that the sulfur (VI) formation is inefficient in the post-combustor flow inside the aircraft engine.
