Diesel soot combustion in air-NO environment: Evolution of soot physical properties and fragmentation characteristics

Since the oxidation activity of nitrogen oxides on soot is obviously higher than that of O₂, it is one of the most effective means to improve soot combustion in diesel particulate filter (DPF) by fully utilizing the oxidation activity of nitrogen oxides in diesel exhaust. This paper investigated the physical properties (i.e. morphology, primary particle diameter, fractal dimension and nanostructure) and oxidation-induced fragmentation characteristics of diesel exhaust soot particles during oxidation degrees (0 %, 20 %, 50 % and 80 %) in different atmospheres (air, air-1000 ppm NO and air-2000 ppm NO). The results showed that during the oxidation process the variation trends of soot morphology in air and air-NO environments were similar, while the number and size of primary particles in an aggregate decreased and the fractal dimension of the aggregate increased with the presence of NO in air atmosphere. With the progress of oxidation, the nanostructure of soot particles became more ordered, while this variation trend was slowed down when NO was added to the air atmosphere. This is because soot particles oxidized in air-NO atmospheres showed less probability of internal oxidation but more external oxidation than those in air atmosphere. Over the oxidation process, the soot aggregate fragmentation rate presented a decreasing variation trend under each oxidizing atmosphere, with a higher aggregate fragmentation rate and more apparent variations in air-NO atmospheres. Moreover, in the air atmosphere, the probability of primary soot particle fragmentation showed a consistent upward trend, while the addition of NO slowed down this trend and showed an upward trend in stages 1(0 % ∼ 20 %) and 2(20 % ∼ 50 %), but a downward trend in stage 3(50 % ∼ 80 %). This suggests that the addition of NO reduces the probability of oxidants (especially O₂) entering the particles, which would lead to a decrease in the probability of primary soot fragmentation caused by internal oxidation.