A REAL-TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR NON-INTRUSIVE SOOT DIAGNOSTICS

THE PRESENT WORK DEALS WITH THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, TESTING AND IMPLE MENTATION OF A REAL-TIME MONITORING SYSTEM TO DETERMINE THE PARTICLE S IZE DISTRIBUTION OF SOOT. THE NOVEL TECHNIQUE SHALL MAKE USE OF MULTI WAVELENGTH ANALYSIS OF THE LIGHT SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF THE PARTICLE S TO INFER THE PARTICLE INDEX OF REFRACTION, THE SOOT NUMBER DENSITY A ND THE PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION. THE PHASE I TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES A RE THE FOLLOWING: A) INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING MULTIWAVELE NGTH LIGHT SCATTERING TO DETERMINE THE SCATTERING AND EXTINCTION PROPE RTIES OF SOOTING FLOWS FROM WHICH THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF SOOT CAN BE INFERRED: B) DETERMINE THE PARTICLE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE PROPOSED INS TRUMENT, SENSITIVITY, AND LIMITATIONS AS APPLIED TO THE SPECIFIED APPL ICATION: C) INVESTIGATE THE RELATIVE MERITS OF USING A SINGLE LASER: D ) DEVELOP A BREADBOARD SYSTEM FROM WHICH PRELIMINARY MEASUREMENTS OF S OOT CAN BE MEASURED FROM A LABORATORY SCALE FLAME. THE EFFORT SHALL C ONSIST OF USING THREE DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS OF LASER LIGHT TO OBTAIN T HE LIGHT SCATTERING AND EXTINCTION FROM THE SOOT PARTICLES TO INFER TH E COMPLEX INDEX OF REFRACTION OF SOOT, ITS CONCENTRATION, AND THE PART ICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION. THE USE OF SOLID STATE DIODE LASERS AND PHOTO DIODES SHALL BE INCORPORATED IN THE NOVEL INSTRUMENT TO OBTAIN A COMPA CT PROBE TO BE USED IN TYPICAL COMBUSTION ENVIRONMENTS.