Abstract
The transient soot distributions within the region bounded by the droplet surface and the flame were measured using a full-filed light extinction technique and subsequent tomographic inversion using Abel transforms. The soot volume fraction results for n-heptane droplets represent the first quantitative assessment of the degree of sooting for isolated droplets burning under microgravity condition. The absence of buoyancy(which produces longer residence times) and the effects of thermophoresis produce a situation in which a significant concentration of soot is produced and accumulated into a soot-cloud. Results indicate that indeed the soot concentration within the microgravity droplet flames(with maximum soot volume fractions as high as ~60ppm) are significantly higher than corresponding values that are reports for normal-gravity flames. This increase in likely due to longer residence times and thermophoretic effects that manifested under microgravity conditions.