This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will test the feasibility of applying a novel statistical absorption tomography technique to retrieve local properties from path integrated measurements made in turbulent flows. Tomographic techniques are widely used in the medical field, but are restricted to time-invariant phenomena, such as laminar flows or stationary objects. There are two distinguishing features of the proposed high resolution statistical tomography that will be demonstrated during the Phase I research effort: (1) a statistical deconvolution technique which will determine the local Probability Density Functions (PDFs) of specific absorption coeffcient with the spatial and temporal resolution necessary to characterize turbulent flows, and (2) a laser sheet/diode array system which has the capability to obtain the high resolution measurements required for the statistical tomographic technique. Local PDFs of specific absorption coefficients are required for non-intrusive monitoring of the particulate and gas species concentrations in a wide variety of turbulent flows. Specific applications include pollution control in smoke stacks, process control in power plants, stability control in gas turbine engine premixers, and manufacturing control in metal and ceramic powder processing. The proposed technology is designed to provide a new process monitoring tool for particulate and gas species concentrations in industrial flows and has immediate commercial utility in the power plant, powder processing and gas turbine industries.
