This article is cited in 11 papers

Analysis of flame structure by molecular-beam mass spectrometry using electron-impact and synchrotron-photon ionization

Ph. R. Westmoreland^a, M. E. Law^a, T. A. Cool^b, J. Wang^b, A. McIlroy^c, C. A. Taatjes^c, N. Hansen<sup>c

a</sup> Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
^b School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
^c Sandia National Laboratories, Combustion Research Facility, Livermore, CA, 94551-0969, USA

Abstract: Molecular-beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) has proven to be a powerful tool for the general analysis of flame structure, providing concentrations of radical and stable species for low-pressure flat flames since the work of Homann and Wagner in the 1960’s. In this paper, we will describe complementary measurements using electron-impact ionization with a high-mass-resolution quadrupole mass spectrometer and vacuum-ultraviolet photoionization in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Isomers are resolved that have not been separately detectable before in MBMS studies of flames, including C$_3$H$_2$, C$_3$H$_4$, C$_4$H$_3$, C$_4$H$_4$, C$_4$H$_5$, C$_6$H$_6$, and C$_2$H$_4$O. The qualitative and quantitative results of MBMS have led to advances in modeling and applying flame chemistry.

Keywords: flame structure, mass spectrometry, ionization, synchrotron radiation, isomers.

UDC: 536.43, 621.384.8, 537.56, 539.144.7

Received: 23.05.2006

 English version: Combustion, Explosion and Shock Waves, 2006, 42:6, 672–677

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