Wavelength-Agile Optical Rocket Propulsion Sensor (WORPS)

ORBITEC and the University of Wisconsin-Madison propose to develop a low-cost, non-intrusive, wavelength-agile optical rocket propulsion sensor (WORPS) to interrogate rocket exhaust plumes and cryogenic fluid properties. The innovative sensor system is based on a Chirped White Pulse Emitter (CWPE). By rapidly monitoring (1 ?Ys response time) broad absorption spectra, the CWPE can interrogate temperature, pressure, and multiple species concentrations in gases at arbitrary conditions and can simultaneously monitor cryogenic liquid properties, all with a simple design. Along a line-of-sight with non-uniform properties, the CWPE can also record gas temperature distributions rather than just the path-averaged temperature. These capabilities represent a dramatic enhancement of the best diode-laser sensors available just two years ago, which were not wavelength-agile. In Phase I, a prototype WORPS system will be designed and fabricated. The unit will be initially demonstrated by interrogating static gas cells at various mixtures and pressures, flat-flame burners, and dewars of LOX containing known amounts of trace constituents (such and N2). Additional demonstrations will be performed by measuring species concentrations and temperature in exhaust plumes from the combustion of GOX/GH2, GOX/RP-1, and GOX/HTPB in lab-scale thrust chambers operating over a range of pressures and nozzle area ratios.