FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES OF INTERACTING DROPLET COMBUSION OF LOW GRADE FUELS USING NOVEL LASER DIAGNOSTICS

RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING, DEVELOPING, AND APPLYING NOVEL LASER DIAGNOSTICS TO THE STUDY OF INTERACTING DROPLETS AND SPRAY VAPORIZATION AND COMBUSTION AS APPLIED TO LOW GRADE FUELS. THE LACK OF FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF SPRAY COMBUSTION AND BURNING CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW GRADE FUELS CALLS FOR MORE ACCURATE AND COMPLETE DATA WHICH CAN BE PROVIDED BY NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES. THE PROBLEM IS TO DETERMINE THE DROPLET TEMPERATURE, AND SURROUNDING GAS PHASE TEMPERATURE AND TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS IN INTERACTING DROPLET COMBUSTION SYSTEMS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH ARE TO: (1) DEVELOP A POINT DIFFRACTION INTERFEROMETRIC (PDI) TECHNIQUE TO DETERMINE THE GAS PHASE TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS SURROUNDING STREAM OF BURNING DROPLETS; (2) APPLY THE RAINBOW THERMOMETRY TO DETERMINE THE INSTANTANEOUS FUEL DROPLET TEMPERATURE; (3) INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AUTOMATICALLY INTEGRATING RAINBOW THERMOMETRY WITH PDI TO ALLOW THE FULL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPERATURE FIELD SURROUNDING THE DROPLT; (4) PERFORM A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE MEASUREMENT ERROR INVOLVED. THE RESULTS CONSIST OF THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, APPLICATION, AND MARKETING OF NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES TO ACQUIRE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF INTERACTING DROPLT COMBUSTION OF LOW GRADE FUELS, WHICH IS PARAMOUNT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE COMBUSTION SYSTEMS THAT BURN THESE FUELS.