AN ON-LINE OPTICAL PROBE FOR PARTICLE COUNTING-

THERE IS A RESEARCH AND PROCESS CONTROL NEED FOR A RUGGEDIZED NONINTRUSIVE INSTRUMENT FOR OBTAINING ABSOLUTE SIZE AND NUMBER DENSITY DISTRIBUTIONS IN LARGE-SCALE COMBUSTION SYSTEMS. SUCH USES CAN BE MET BY DEVELOPING A HYBRID OPTICAL PROBE COMPRISED OF A DURABLE OPTICAL SYSTEM MOUNTED WITHIN A WATER-COOLED PROBE. THE SPACING OF THE OPTICAL ELEMENTS CAN BE ARRANGED TO MINIMIZE THE EFFECTS OF BEAM STEERING AND SYSTEM OPACITY AND AT THE SAME TIME AVOID PROBE INTERFERENCE WITH THE PROCESS FLOW CONDITIONS. SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE FOR PERFORMING MEASUREMENTS IN THIS ENVIRON- MENT REQUIRES THAT THE METHODOLOGY BE BASED ON AN OPTICAL CONCEPT THAT IS SIMPLE AND THAT CAN BE CONTINU- OUSLY VALIDATED DURING THE MEASUREMENT PROCESS. THIS PROGRAM WILL PURSUE THE THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF A FIBER OPTIC-BASED TECHNIQUE THAT CAN BE CONTINUOUSLY ALIGNED WHILE OBTAINING MEASUREMENTS, THUS ENSURING THAT RELIABLE AND REPRODUCIBLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION MEASUREMENTS ARE OBTAINED.