The Influences of Oxygen Concentration and External Heating on Carbon Nanotube Growth in Diffusion Flame

Authors

  • Lei Li High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Thalhah Zainal High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Fairus Mohd Yasin High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Norikhwan Hamzah High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Mohsin Mohd Sies High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Noor Afiq Witri Muhammad Yazid School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Shokri Amzin Department of Marine and Mechanical Engineering, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
  • Aizuddin Supee Energy Management Group, School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37934/cfdl.13.12.4562

Keywords:

Flame synthesis, carbon nanotube (CNT), flame structure, multi-scale model, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), growth rate model

Abstract

Tight control of the carbon nanotube (CNT) synthesis process in flames remains a challenge due to the highly non-uniform gradient of flame thermochemical properties. The present study aims to establish a baseline model for flame-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (FECVD) synthesis of CNT and to analyze the CNT growth region at varying flame and furnace conditions. The numerical model comprises a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation that is coupled with the CNT growth rate model to simulate the flow field within the furnace and the CNT growth respectively. Validation of the flame shape, flame length, and temperature profile are carried with a reasonable comparison to experimental measurements. A parametric study on the effects of furnace heating capacity and oxidizer concentration is conducted. The results of the CNT growth rate model reveal that there is a positive correlation between the heater power and CNT length. Supplying a higher concentration oxidizer at a fixed furnace power is predicted to result in further improvement in CNT length and high yield region. Flame structure analysis showed that with the heater turned on at 750 W (corresponding to heat flux of 21,713W/m2), the growth region expands twofold when oxygen concentration is increased from 19% to 24%. However, the growth region shrinks when the oxygen concentration is further increased to 27% which indicates depletion of carbon source for CNT growth due to excess oxygen. The finding of this research could guide and optimize the experiment of the flame-assisted CNT production in the future.

Author Biographies

Lei Li, High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

lei2019utm@gmail.com

Muhammad Thalhah Zainal, High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

thalhah90@gmail.com

Mohd Fairus Mohd Yasin, High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

mohdfairus@mail.fkm.utm.my

Norikhwan Hamzah, High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

norikhwan@gmail.com

Mohsin Mohd Sies, High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HIREF), School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

mohsin@mail.fkm.utm.my

Muhammad Noor Afiq Witri Muhammad Yazid, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

mnafiqwitri@utm.my

Shokri Amzin, Department of Marine and Mechanical Engineering, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway

samz@hvl.no

Aizuddin Supee, Energy Management Group, School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

aizuddin@utm.my

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Published

2021-12-17

How to Cite

Lei Li, Muhammad Thalhah Zainal, Mohd Fairus Mohd Yasin, Norikhwan Hamzah, Mohsin Mohd Sies, Muhammad Noor Afiq Witri Muhammad Yazid, Shokri Amzin, & Aizuddin Supee. (2021). The Influences of Oxygen Concentration and External Heating on Carbon Nanotube Growth in Diffusion Flame. CFD Letters, 13(12), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.37934/cfdl.13.12.4562

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 12: December (2021)

Section

Articles