This equipment grant will be used for acquisition of a high- speed data acquisition and analysis system which will be used with an existing five nanosecond pulse-width laser for combustion studies. The system will allow for acquisition of sufficient data over the 5 nanosecond pulse width of an existing degenerate four-wave mixing laser combustion diagnostic to determine the temporal response of the system. In addition to acquiring the data, this system will process the information to provide a real-time measure of the performance of the combustion diagnostic system. In its initial application, this data acquisition system will be integrated into an in-situ pulse laser based diagnostic for measurement of hydroperoxy radicals generated during the combustion of hydrocarbons. This technique utilizes degenerate four-wave mixing of a low-lying absorption band of HO2 which is unique to that molecule, not having the spectroscopic interference problems associated with other absorption bands of this molecule in the fingerprint region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Successful completion of this research program will provide a new diagnostic tool to probe hydrocarbon oxidation and provide new insight into the chemistry which limits efficiency and controls emissions from hydrocarbon combustion systems.
