Abstract
Combustion is an integral part of modern society, powering many major industries, including nanomaterial production. This widespread use is due to the scalability of combustion processes and their ability to produce materials in a single step. In addition to its relevance to nanomaterial synthesis, understanding particle formation is also critical in reducing particulate pollutant formation in combustion systems. Although several studies have examined how plasma affects combustion chemistry, relatively few have investigated particle formation in plasma assisted combustion. This dissertation addresses this knowledge gap by isolating the different effects of plasma on combustion, particle formation, and particle growth. First, ions from a methane air flame are characterized, and their charging characteristics are estimated to establish a baseline for the ionic environment. Next, particle formation is examined in the presence of a corona discharge to investigate influence of low concentrations of high energy electrons. Because kinetic enhancement is often dominant when compared to hydrodynamic and thermal enhancements, the last part of this dissertation isolates the kinetic effect by introducing O3 and NO into the flame. The influence of kinetic effect of plasma on particle formation and growth in combustion is investigated. As a result, this dissertation is divided into three main studies. This dissertation examines how particle formation and growth are influenced by ion charging characteristics, electrons, and plasma induced kinetic enhancement. The findings contribute to a more complete understanding of how plasmas affect particle formation and growth in flames.