This research involves the prediction and measurement of species and/or soot concentrations and temperatures in laminar as well as turbulent combustion systems. Although optical diagnostics have reached high levels of refinement, it remains very difficult to make accurate measurements in turbulent combustion environments. The difficulties are largely attributable to the highly non-linear interactions between the structure of the turbulent flow field and the corresponding radiation field. Not only do these interactions make measurements difficult, they also have an important effect on both the heat release and the chemical cascading as well as soot formation that is inherent in combustion systems. This proposal seeks to explain, using fundamental experimental, analytical and computational approaches, the nature of the turbulence-radiation interaction.
Intellectual Merit: Nonintrusive spectral radiation tools will be developed to measure species concentrations and temperatures in both laminar and turbulent reacting flows, based primarily on line-of-sight techniques. The measurements will be used to reconstruct the distributions of the variables of interest, and guide the development of, and validate theoretical models for such flows. One unique aspect of the research is inclusion of the predicted response of instrumentation that would be used to measure the quantities of interest in a companion experiment. This capability reduces the uncertainties in comparisons made between measurements and predictions, and increases our understanding of the underlying physical phenomena. The predictive model is based upon the transported PDF method.
Broader Impacts: Turbulent combustion is associated with production and/or conversion of most of the energy used in the U.S. The associated heat transfer, including the radiation heat transfer, is utilized in applications ranging from electric power generation to transportation. Graduate and undergraduate students will be engaged in the research at the PIs institution, which is a new component of the University of California System. Undergraduate students will be primarily responsible for making the experimental measurements, giving students from underrepresented groups important exposure to advanced research. Collaboration will be made with researchers at Edwards Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories.
