Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) for Combustion Diagnostics

Combustion Combustion research covers a wide field of study, and involves instrumentation for both spectroscopy and imaging. Applications of spectroscopy and imaging range from the analysis of fuel emissions to the image analysis of flames. A detector for combustion research needs to be compact and robust because the observation environment is exceedingly demanding. A considerable amount of combustion research is carried out in the UV ( <250nm) region, with high levels of background light, including UV. For UV operation, a gated detector must be able to discriminate between the UV signal and the interfering UV background. Combustion research demands that detectors work in hostile environments with high background light levels spanning all wavelengths, including the UV. For operation in the UV, Andor s IntelligateTM option affords the sensitivity together with the high gating ratios required to provide sufficient background suppression.

Application Note
The diagnostic technique uses simultaneous two-photon CO PLIF and single-photon OH PLIF to derive a twodimensional measurement of the forward rate of the reaction: CO + OH => CO2 + H This reaction represents the primary pathway for the formation of CO2 in methane-air flames. Figure beside shows an instantaneous measurement of CO LIF, OH LIF, and the reaction rate in a turbulent partially premixed methane-air jet flame.
Simultaneous OH PLIF and CO PLIF measurements are used to measure the forward reaction rate of the reaction CO + OH => CO2 + H in a turbulent methane-air jet flame.

Combustion solution from Andor The Andor range of iStar cameras is ideally suited for combustion. As mentioned, extracting the UV signal from the UV background noise is essential. The Andor IntelligateTM option provides the sensitivity and the high gating ratios required to sufficiently suppress background radiation. This, together with all the other benefits of the Andor iStar, makes it an ideal choice for combustion research.

Butane flame and captured using high-speed gating

Two pulsed UV lasers tuned to 230nm and 285nm excited the CO and OH LIF, respectively. The laser beams were formed into overlapping sheets to illuminate a plane within the turbulent jet flame. The laser-induced fluorescence emission was imaged onto two Andor DH5H7 intensified CCD cameras. The collection optics included filters to pass the fluorescence emission and block interference. The image intensifiers were gated for a 400ns period bracketing the laser pulses to further reduce interference from flame luminosity. Gated image intensifiers are frequently used in combustion diagnostics as fast shutters and as amplifiers for the detection of weak signals.

Laser-based Imaging Diagnostics for Combustion Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories develop laser-based imaging diagnostics for studying the interaction of turbulent flows and flames. Imaging diagnostics provide temporally and spatially resolved measurements of species, temperature, and velocity distributions over a wide range of length scales. Fundamental quantities of interest are measured by combining multiple imaging diagnostics. A recent example of multiscalar imaging diagnostics combines CO and OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) to probe the detailed structure of turbulent jet flames.

Further information on these experiments is available in the following publication and the references therein: Frank, J. H., Kaiser, S. A., and Long, M. B., Proc. Combust. Inst., 29:2687-2694 (2002). Thanks to Dr. J. H. Frank and R. J. Sigurdsson of Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA and Prof. M. B. Long and S. A. Kaiser of Yale University, New Haven, CT. r-Indu

Please contact: Thorsten Pieper, phone: +49/6151/8806-754, eMail: pieper@lot-oriel.de or Olaf Koschtzke, phone: +49/6151/880643, eMail: koschuetzke@lot-oriel.de LOT-Oriel Group Europe. Im Tiefen See 58. D-64293 Darmstadt. phone: +49/6151/8806-0. fax: +49/6151/896667. www.lot-oriel.com/de