Novel Instrumentation for Rocket Propulsion Systems

The objective of the proposed SBIR Phase I program is to develop novel laser-based instruments that provide rapid, in situ, simultaneous measurements of gas temperature, velocity and mole fractions of several important species in rocket plume exhaust flows at NASA Stennis Space Center. Based on laser absorption spectroscopy techniques, the instrument will employ room temperature near-IR and mid-IR lasers to determine the concentrations of several combustion products, pollutants and unburned hydrocarbons with high sensitivity. The Phase I instrument will be demonstrated in combustion flows at University of Wisconsin-Madison Engine Laboratory, at LGR and at a NASA test facility. The fast response of the instrument will enable engineers and scientists to record precise measurements gasdynamic parameters in rocket engine flows to identify temperature and species nonuniformities, combustion instabilities and to refine and improve computational models.