The equipment purchased with this grant will provide capabilities for a suite of laser combustion diagnostic techniques, including tracer Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF), hydroxyl radical (OH) LIF/PLIF, chemiluminescence, Raman and Raleigh scattering, exciplex fluorescence, and Mie scattering techniques. These diagnostic methods will be used in a series of projects related to combustion processes occurring in internal combustion (IC) engines. Additionally, the equipment will enable a significant leap in the pedagogical capabilities of Union College's new IC engine lab, and will greatly strengthen the thermal/fluid sciences stem of the mechanical engineering curriculum through its inclusion in teaching labs and demos. The equipment will help attract, teach, and retain engineering students, including those from traditionally underrepresented groups, by providing significant new opportunities for undergraduate students to become engaged in modern IC engine and combustion research. Lastly, this equipment will foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. For example, the Raman spectroscopy capabilities will enhance ongoing research in the chemistry department on the oxidation states of polyaniline in the development of conductive nanocomposite materials for future chemical sensing and conductive composite applications. With regard to IC engine and combustion research, the initial project will develop a quantitative LIF based fuel film thickness measurement technique for use with fuel (hydrocarbon) films on solid surfaces. Fuel films play a critical role in the performance of many liquid fueled combustion devices, yet they are currently very difficult to study in situ. Improved understanding of the behavior of these types of films is a necessary first step for reducing harmful emissions from many important combustion systems (such as modern automobile engines). The outcome of this project will be a technique capable of making spatially, temporally, and chemical component resolved measurements of hydrocarbon fuel film thicknesses in situ, and which requires optical access to only the exposed (top) surface of the fuel film. A related hydrogen fuels project will develop laser based visualization techniques to study the mixing and combustion of hydrogen fuels in IC engines. Recently, hydrogen has been receiving increasing attention as a fuel, and the hydrogen IC engine represents a viable technology for harnessing this fuel for transportation applications. However, laser diagnostic / optical engine tools of the type used in modern IC engine research and development are not available for hydrogen-fueled systems. Several complementary techniques will be explored in an attempt to provide the diagnostic functionality for hydrogen IC engines that is available via PLIF measurements for hydrocarbon fueled IC engine research.
