Liquid Rocket Engine Heat Transfer Tools

This Phase I project will evaluate the feasibility of utilizing mid-infrared hyperspectral emission tomography for estimating the temperature of the hot gases near the wall as well as the temperature of the wall in a rocket engine combustor. The hyperspectral emission measurements at the water vapor and carbon dioxide bands will be deconvoluted using a Maximum Likelihood Estimation method of the linearized equation of radiative transfer to provide the temperatures of the hot gases near the wall. Radiation signatures from the continuum band will be used to provide a temperature map of the combustor wall. During the Phase I work, the feasibility of the system to will be evaluated using a low-pressure hydrogen/oxygen combustor. Three tasks are planned for the Phase I work: 1) Develop a suitable deconvolution algorithm to obtain wall and gas temperatures within the combustor from hyperspectral images, (2) Evaluate the feasibility of hyperspectral emission tomography for temperature estimation in a low pressure combustor, and (3) design a prototype system to obtain temperature measurements in a high pressure rocket engine combustor. During the Phase II work, a prototype system will be fabricated and evaluated using the high-pressure rocket engine facility at Purdue University.