ON-LINE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINATION OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THE USE OF COAL-BASED FUELS ARE CURRENTLY BEING PURSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT, ENGINE MANUFACTURERS, AND BY OTHER RESEARCH LABORATORIES. THERE ISA STRONG INTEREST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COAL/SLURRY BASED DIESEL ENGINES FOR LOCOMOTIVE AND PEAK POWER GENERATION. SPRAY ATOMIZATION IS THE KEY TO EFFICIENT COMBUSTION AND EMISSIONS CONTROL OF BOTH CONVENTIONAL AND NEW ALTERNATE FUELS. IN SITU EXERIMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DROPLET SIZE DISTRIBUTION IS REQUIRED FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PERFORMANCE OF VARIOUS ATOMIZER DESIGNS AND FOR OPTIMAL DESIGN. BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF PERFORMING NON-INTRUSIVE SPACE AND TIME RESOLVED MEASUREMENTS IN AN ENGINE, A SATISFACTORY DIAGNOSTIC FOR PERFORMING THESE MEASUREMENTS HAS NOT YET BEEN AVAILABLE. INSITEC PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW METHOD FOR NON-INTRUSIVE SPATIAL AND TIME RESOLVED SIZE DISTRIBUTION MEASUREMENTS WHICH CAN BE USED TO UNDERSTAND AND IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH SPEED COMBUSTION SYSTEMS.