A Tribute to Adel F. Sarofim Acknowledging His Contributions to Combustion Science

摘要

In the paper, Professor Adel F. Sarofim's contributions to combustion science are highlighted. Adel Sarofim spent more than 50 years working on combustion utilization-related issues, focusing on energy conversion efficiency and pollutant emissions. In this paper, the range of combustion problems he addressed over his prolific career is examined, and a detailed cataloguing of his extensive literature contributions in each major area is noted. Nitrogen oxide formation during combustion, combustion-generated aerosols, soot formation during combustion, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation, and characterization of carbon structure and reactivity are some of the areas in which his work has provided fundamental insights into underlying science and technology. In this paper, Prof. Sarofim's contributions to combustion science are discussed with respect to the following categories, which are representative of colloquia topics that have been used at several International Combustion Symposia: (1) Combustion Fundamentals for Solid Fuels: PF, FBC and Waste; (2) Stationary Combustion Systems: Measurements and Modeling; (3) Gaseous Combustion: Measurements and Mechanistic Modeling; (4) NO_x, SO_x and Pollutant Emission Kinetics; (5) Soot, PAH and Air Toxics. The variety of "reactor devices" used in Sarofim's experimental endeavors are noted. These include laboratory flames, electrodynamic balances, jet stirred reactors, fluidized beds, incinerators, MHD combustors, and industrial boilers. Also of note are the many different fuels employed in his studies, amongst them, small gaseous fuels (e.g., CH_4, C_2H_4, CO, propene, heptane); aromatic and paraffinic fuels (e.g., benzene, toluene, tars, anthracene, naphthalene, pyrene, arene, cyclohexane); chloro-organic fuels (e.g., dichlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls); waste-derived fuels; petroleum cokes; carbons, coals, biomass materials, and liquid transportation fuels (e.g., diesel fuel, JP8, gasoline, bio-diesel fuels, and heavy oils). He also employed a variety of diagnostic techniques to obtain kinetic data and to gain information about rate-limiting processes occurring during the combustion process. Diagnostic techniques included wet chemistry methods, NMR and FTIR analyses, light scattering, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and laser-induced fluorescence. Also highlighted in the paper are Professor Sarofim's modeling activities, which include modeling laminar diffusion flame structure, solids conversion phenomena in fluidized beds and gasifiers, and pollutant emissions characteristics during coal combustion. His modeling of chemical kinetics phenomena included mechanism reduction studies, molecular orbital calculations as well as density functional theory and Hartree-Fock wave function calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. These contributions to combustion science are mentioned to acknowledge Prof. Sarofim's research, which has significantly advanced our understanding of key phenomena in energy conversion efficiency and pollutant emissions during combustion.