Combustion and secondary atomization behavior of nanofuel droplets laden with hematite, magnetite and lanthanum orthoferrites nanoparticles

Abstract

Current research concerns the droplet combustion behavior of gasoline-based nanofuel droplets containing hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4) and lanthanum orthoferrites (LaFeO3, La0.5Fe1.5O3 and La0.75Fe1.25O3) perovskite type nanoparticles (NPs) at 2.5 % wt. particle loadings. The results showed that the size distribution of hematite and magnetite NPs is on the 90-100 nm scale, while the lanthanum orthoferrites NPs have a particle size distribution of 25-40 nm. The particles with the largest surface area (78,5098 m2/g) and enhanced oxygen adsorbing ability were La0.5Fe1.5O3 NPs. Droplet combustion experiments were recorded with a high speed camera and a 7.5-14 & mu;m spectral area thermal camera. Fe3O4 and LaFeO3 NPs high agglomerate tendency allowed only a single microexplosion event in nanofuel droplets towards the end of the experiment. Only the G/La0.5Fe1.5O3 fuel droplets trended to obey the D2-law. Nanofuel droplets containing La0.5Fe1.5O3 NPs exhibited the highest maximum flame temperature of 264 & DEG;C. The catalytic activity of lanthanum orthoferrite perovskite-type NPs during combustion was improved due to the decrease in the La ratio in the A-site and the increase in the Fe ratio in the B-site. image