MULTI-WAVELENGTH NEPHELOMETER DUST MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

THE ARMY HAS A REQUIREMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT SYSTEM TO MESURE DUST CONCENTRATIONS WITH SMALL SENSING UNITS SUITABLE FOR MOUNTING ON MILITARY VEHICLES UNDERGOING DUST TESTING. LIGHT SCATTERING IS A LEADING CHOICE OF TECHNIQUES. HOWEVER, THE SCATTERING DATA MUST PERMIT A MEASURE OF PARTICLE SIZE OF PROPERLY RELATE SCATTERING INTENSITY TO DUST CONCENTRATION (I.E. PARTICLE-SIZE COMPENSATION). EXISTING SYSTEMS HAVE LIMITATIONS WITH RESPECT TO PHYSICAL SIZE, PARTICLE SIZE, PARTILE LOADING AND SEVERE ENVIRONMENTS.TO OVERCOME THESE LIMITATIONS, CONSIDERATION MUST BE GIVEN TO THE USE OF WIDER COLLECTION ANGLES, TO USING MORE THAN ONE OPTICAL PATH TO ACCOMMODATE THE LARGE VARIATIONS IN LOADING, AND TO MAKING MEASUREMENTS AT LONGER WAVELENGTHS WHERE THE COMPOSITION DEPENDENT SCATTERING PROPERTIES WILL COME INTO PLAY. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SOLUTION OFFERED IN PHASE I, IS A COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF THE IMPORTANT SIZES AND COMPOSITIONS OF COMPONENTS IN DUST. ON THE BASIS OF THIS INFORMATION, WE WILL DESIGN A MULTI-WAVELENGTH SYSTEM BASED ON HADAMARD TRANSFORM TECHNOLOGY CAPABLE OF MULTI-ANGLE SCATTERING, TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN PARTICLES OF DIFFERENT SIZES AND COMPOSITIONS. THIS WILL ALLOW ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF COMPENSATION FACTORS TO OBTAIN OVERALL DUST CONCENTRATION LEVELS. DVANCED FUEL RESEARCH, INC. (AFR) IS HIGHLY QUALIFIED TO CARRY OUT THIS BASIC RESEARCH PROGRAM DUE TO ITS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN RADIATIVE PROPERTIES OF PARTICLES.