Bagasse-fired furnaces have long been used in the sugar industry but suffer from stability problems due to the high moisture content of the fuel (45–50% as fired). For a wide range of furnace conditions a cyclic pattern of material accumulating, drying an

Particulate carbon (soot) formation during near isothermal pyrolysis of some aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures diluted in helium for nominal temperature of 1473 K was investigated. An inhibition of soot particle formation takes place during pyrolysis of the model hydrocarbon mixtures. As a result, the mixture when pyrolyzed yields coarse soot compared with that produced during pyrolysis of the pure components. The Bureau of Mines Correlation Index (BMCI), hitherto having been a setting parameter for selection of the hydrocarbon mixture for carbon black production, does not take into account an inhibition effect of soot particle nucleation occurring during pyrolysis of hydrocarbon blends. The BMCI specifies the hydrocarbon mixture aromaticity level, that is the C/H ratio rather than a sooting tendency of the mixture and should not be used as a principal criterion in selection of the applicable feedstock for carbon black production. During pyrolysis of hydrocarbon mixtures containing acetylene, it was demonstrated that only acetylene generates soot particle nuclei, whereas the other components are consumed by heterogeneous growth of the particles. This observation might be considered as an experimental evidence contradicting the mechanism of soot formation through a PAH generation stage under conditions of the flat flame combustion.