Design and Fabrication of a Sensitive Shoulder-Mounted Gaseous Leak Locator

The primary objectives of this project address the major problem area which will determine the success or failure of the BAGI technology for the AEDC application. The first objective will be to demonstrate the feasibility of direct thermoelectric (TE) cooling and temperature control of a three watt CO2 waveguide laser. A mock-up of a laser camera unit with a 3 watt laser mounted on a TE-cooled cold plate will be designed, built and tested. A second objective will involve analysis of the BAGI synchro-scan system, with the goal being improvement of video optical resolution without sacrificing operational range or system size. This effort will include the design, fabrication and testing of a large aperture horizontal scan mirror assembly. The third objective will be to analyze the overall performance of the BAGI system with the direct TE cooling and re-designed synchro-scan configuration. A mathematical model will be used to predict the system operational range and leak detection sensitivity for the AEDC application. Should these objectives be accomplished, advanced development feasibility will be established, and the design and fabrication of a sensitive portable gaseous leak locator will have a high probability of success.