Abstract (eng)
In this thesis, data of optical properties of soot aerosols - measured in the European research project SAMPLE II – are modelled with Mie and Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory (RDG theory), using physical parameters of aerosols. In this project, soot particles were produced by two different combustion sources: a high-pressure kerosene flame of a gas turbine simulator ("Hot End Simulator" - HES) and a propane diffusion flame of a flame soot generator ("mini CAST-burner" - CAST ). Optical quantities – such as single scattering albedo, mass absorption cross section, absorption and scattering Ångström exponent – of aerosol particles generated by those different soot sources are compared and the possibility to reproduce experimental values with theoretical models such as Mie theory and Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory (RDG theory) is explored.
Absorption Ångström exponents of particles of both combustion sources are almost identical and can be reproduced well using Mie and RDG theory, as Mie theory overestimates experimental values by less than 23% and RDG theory reproduces experimnetal values within 7%. Experimental values of the scattering Ångström exponent of CAST particles are 33% and 85% higher than values of HES particles and the experimental values of particles produced with the two sources cannot be modelled by either Mie or RDG theory. Particles with a high fraction of black carbon are found to have an absorption Ångström exponent of about 1.35, which indicates a wavelength dependence of the imaginary part of the refractive index of black carbon.
Single scattering albedos of HES and CAST particles are very similar and their values diverge by less than 15%. Experimental values of single scattering albedos cannot be reproduced by RDG theory and only values of particles that have a very low or very high EC-fraction (> 80% or < 25%) can be modelled successfully using Mie theory. Except for one HES-operating condition, mass absorption cross sections of HES and CAST particles can be compared well, showing discrepancies between 6% and 34%. For CAST particles having an EC fraction > 60%, Mie and RDG theory underestimate experimental values of mass absorption cross section by less than 30%. For HES particles with EC-fraction > 80%, Mie and RDG theory reproduce experimental values within 50%. To a great extent, these deviations lie within experimental uncertainties.
The results of this thesis show that soot particles with high EC-fraction (> 60%) have very similar absorption properties, regardless of combustion source. The absorption properties of these particles can be modelled well by theoretical models such as Mie or RDG theory, altought RDG theory works better than mie theory when particles have a high EC-fraction.