SBIR Phase I: Optical Diagnostics for Whole-Field Measurement of Dense Fuel Sprays

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims at developing diagnostics for liquid fuel combustion systems. The proposed instrumentation will provide a noninvasive measurement of liquid volume, surface area and velocity within a cross-sectional plane of the dense spray. The technique is applicable to burning and non-burning sprays and is equally effective for spherical and non-spherical drops and particles. The proposed device is a novel combination of ensemble laser diffraction and image correlation velocimetry, both of which are well-developed technologies and many practical issues concerning their implementation have been already resolved. The goal of the project is to build a bench-top system and prove the underlying concepts. A number of issues concerning the effectiveness of the proposed diagnostics in the combustion environment will also be addressed. The broad impact of this work will be commercialization of a new diagnostics tool that may enable cleaner and more efficient liquid fuel combustion systems.