The technique of thermophoretic sampling coupled with electron microscopy, as developed by the PI, has been extensively used in steady flames to help elucidate the mechanisms of soot growth and oxidation. The objective of this proposed research is to demonstrate that the technique of thermophoretic sampling can be applied to forced flickering flames. Because of the time varying nature of flickering flames, application of the thermophoretic sampling technique takes on a degree of high risk, making this proposal an ideal candidate for the SGER program. The PI hopes to optimize both the forcing frequency and probing time so that meaningful soot samples can be collected from these forced flickering flames. If this indeed can be shown to be the case, the resolution to the question of why flickering flames appear to form significantly greater quantities of soot as compared to similar steady flames should be closer to a solution. This could be significant in the understanding of soot formation in turbulent combustion since flickering flames are viewed to bridge the gap between laminar and turbulent flames.
