Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation in a flame of the alkylated aromatic trimethylbenzene compared to those of the alkane dodecane

Over the last 50 years, several chemical mechanisms have been proposed to understand the chemistry involved in the formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) during combustion. These mechanisms range from sequential addition of small hydrocarbon intermediates to recombination of large aromatic radicals. Flames present a multitude of complexities due to high temperature gradients, short residence time and overlapping of several chemical...