Optical Diagnostics and Radiative Properties of Simulated Soot Agglomerates

The effect of agglomeration on the optical diagnostics and radiative properties of simulated soot agglomerates is investigated, using results from the Jones solution. It is found that agglomeration has a very strong effect on scattering, but only a weak effect on extinction (≅ absorption). An accurate relation has been developed, based on near-forward scattering coefficients, for inferring the number of primary particles in soot agglomerates. General models for both total and differential scattering coefficients have also been established. These results are in general agreement with those predicted for fractal aggregates having a large number of particles. Because of the effect of agglomeration, scattering may not be negligible in treating radiative transport from soot agglomerates.