2023 Distinguished Paper Award (DPA) in the Soot, Nanomaterials and Large Molecules Colloquium

In this 13-part series of articles, The Combustion Institute recognizes the 2023 Distinguished Papers selected from among the scientific papers presented during the 39th International Symposium on Combustion. Congratulations to Michael Frenklach and Alexander M. Mebel for winning the DPA in the Soot, Nanomaterials and Large Molecules colloquium.

When asked about the motivation for their paper, “Prenucleation chemistry of aromatics: A two-ring precursor?”, Michael Frenklach explained that he and Alexander Mebel joined forces in an attempt to identify the mechanism of soot particle inception. This is currently one of the most outstanding puzzles in the area of soot formation.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are broadly agreed upon precursors to soot particles, but specifically which one or ones critically govern particle inception is the subject of considerable debate. The arguments have revolved around ionic-vs-neutral, open-vs-closed shell, plane-vs-curved, and/or small-vs-large PAH. Professors Frenklach and Mebel are hopeful that the results of their studies will help in resolving the controversy.
 
The work conducted by the scientists included exploring new reactions, re-evaluating known reactions, and testing the results through detailed modeling. Such tests, with a new stochastic code and new kinetic data, started to reveal some patterns that they found interesting.  One of the immediate outcomes was a possible resolution of a controversy introduced by Alessandro Gomez and his co-workers at Yale University. Hence, they decided to present these results at an open discussion forum at the 39^th International Symposium on Combustion.
 
In the long term, the team believes that the reaction patterns identified in their work could benefit in attaining the understanding of soot particle nucleation and its predictive modeling. This information will be beneficial to the “soot” and clean combustion communities.
 
The research of Michael Frenklach and Alexander M. Mebel was completed mainly at Florida International University and the University of California at Berkeley. The work was carried out in 2020 and 2021.
 
Over 1,500 papers were submitted to the 39th International Symposium on Combustion. All papers were categorized into one of 13 colloquia, and then distributed to Colloquium Coordinators and Co-Chairs. Each paper received at least three reviews from qualified individuals through the peer-review process. Less than 50 percent of the papers submitted were accepted for presentation.
 
Following the symposium, one paper presented in each colloquium is awarded the distinction of Distinguished Paper. Visit here to view the presentation. The 13 Distinguished Papers undergo committee review for consideration for the Silver Combustion Medal. A paper selected for this honor exemplifies quality, achievement, and significance to advance a field of combustion science, and was awarded during the 40th International Symposium in Milan, Italy.