The interaction of flow turbulence and chemical reactions is at the heart of understanding and predicting turbulent combustion. This interaction is critical to the operation of almost all practical combustion devices including: gas turbines used in jet engines and power plants, burners used in manufacturing and heating applications, and internal combustion engines found in everything from automobiles to large construction equipment. A key parameter that results from the turbulence-chemistry interaction, and can be used to help control the combustion process, is the distribution of temperature in the combusting flow. The primary objective of the proposed work is to develop and implement a new temperature imaging technique for combusting flows. The technique utilizes the laser-induced emission from nanoparticle phosphors whose emission is highly temperature dependent. The nanometer sized phosphors act as microscopic temperature sensors embedded in the flow. The measurement technique will fill a significant gap in current temperature imaging capabilities. It enables measurements in the temperature range from 700 to 1800 K which is of critical importance for designing the next generation of clean, efficient, combustion technologies. The technique will be capable of measurements where current diagnostics are intractable, making simultaneous temperature imaging measurements of both the reactants and products in practical combustion devices a reality.
The proposed measurement technique will be optimized for the temperature range of interest by studying the fundamental temperature dependence of the phosphor luminescence. This knowledge will be applied to develop a robust technique for temperature measurements in practical devices. In collaborations with researchers at Universities and National Laboratories we will apply this technique to study fundamentals of turbulence-chemistry interactions and low-temperature combustion strategies in piston IC engines.
Broader Impacts
The proposed work addresses one of the key challenges for our society; Energy. It does this by providing a new diagnostic tool to combustion researchers, which will greatly enhance the understanding of advanced combustion strategies in real devices, and by impacting energy education at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Knowledge gained using the technique will enable significant improvements in the efficiency and emissions from real combustion devices, such as gas turbines and piston IC engines. Collaborations included as part of the work will provide rapid dissemination of the technique to several research groups. Publications resulting from those collaborations will rapidly inform the combustion community regarding the promise and methods associated with the new diagnostic.
Knowledge transfer to K-12 teachers and students will be accomplished through a summer program which brings K-12 teachers into the lab to directly experience combustion research. The expertise gained from that experience will be disseminated to their students throughout the school year. Undergraduates will be directly involved in the research through an existing undergraduate fellowship program. Graduate students will hone their teaching skills and gain new understanding through their involvement with K-12 teachers and undergraduates, and through a new course focused on instrumentation for combustion research. The combined impact of the work will be improved energy education at all levels along with a new diagnostic tool that provides critical information to combustion researchers, enabling the development of vastly improved combustion devices.
