William P Partridge

Experimental Assessment and Enhancement of Planar Laser-induced Fluorescence Measurements of Nitric Oxide in an Inverse Diffusion Flame William P Partridge

Publisher Marketing: We have experimentally assessed the quantitative nature of planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of NO concentration in a unique atmospheric pressure, laminar, axial inverse diffusion flame (IDF). The PLIF measurements were assessed relative to a two-dimensional array of separate laser saturated fluorescence (LSF) measurements. We demonstrated and evaluated several experimentally-based procedures for enhancing the quantitative nature of PLIF concentration images. Because these experimentally-based PLIF correction schemes require only the ability to make PLIF and LSF measurements, they produce a more broadly applicable PLIF diagnostic compared to numerically-based correction schemes. We experimentally assessed the influence of interferences on both narrow-band and broad-band fluorescence measurements at atmospheric and high pressures. Optimum excitation and detection schemes were determined for the LSF and PLIF measurements. Single-input and multiple-input, experimentally-based PLIF enhancement procedures were developed for application in test environments with both negligible and significant quench-dependent error gradients. Each experimentally-based procedure provides an enhancement of approximately 50% in the quantitative nature of the PLIF measurements, and results in concentration images nominally as quantitative as LSF point measurements. These correction procedures can be applied to other species, including radicals, for which no experimental data are available from which to implement numerically-based PLIF enhancement procedures. Contributor Bio:  Laurendeau, Normand M Normand M. Laurendeau is the Ralph and Bettye Bailey Professor of Combustion at Purdue University. He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of thermodynamics, combustion and engineering ethics. He conducts research in the combustion sciences, with particular emphasis on laser diagnostics, pollutant formation and flame structure. Dr Laurendeau is well known for his pioneering research on the development and application of both nanosecond and picosecond laser-induced fluorescence strategies to quantitative species concentration measurements in laminar and turbulent flames. He has authored or coauthored over 150 publications in the archival scientific and engineering literature. Professor Laurendeau is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the peer-reviewed journal Combustion Science and Technology.