Time-resolved laser-induced incandescence of soot: the influence of experimental factors and microphysical mechanisms

Single-pulse real-time billion-frames-per-second planar imaging of ultrafast nanoparticle-laser dynamics and temperature in flames

Unburnt hydrocarbon flames produce soot, which is the second biggest contributor to global warming and harmful to human health. The state-of-the-art high-speed imaging techniques, developed to study non-repeatable turbulent flames, are limited to million-frames-per-second imaging rates, falling short in capturing the dynamics of critical species. Unfortunately, these techniques do not provide a complete picture of flame-laser interactions, important for understanding soot formation. Furthermore, thermal effects induced by multiple consecutive pulses modify the optical properties of soot nanoparticles, thus making single-pulse imaging essential. Here, we report single-shot laser-sheet compressed ultrafast photography (LS-CUP) for billion-frames-per-second planar imaging of flame-laser dynamics. We observed laser-induced incandescence, elastic light scattering, and fluorescence of soot precursors - polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in real-time using a single nanosecond laser pulse. The spatiotemporal maps of the PAHs emission, soot temperature, primary nanoparticle size, soot aggregate size, and the number of monomers, present strong experimental evidence in support of the theory and modeling of soot inception and growth mechanism in flames. LS-CUP represents a generic and indispensable tool that combines a portfolio of ultrafast combustion diagnostic techniques, covering the entire lifecycle of soot nanoparticles, for probing extremely short-lived (picoseconds to nanoseconds) species in the spatiotemporal domain in non-repeatable turbulent environments. Finally, LS-CUP's unparalleled capability of ultrafast wide-field temperature imaging in real-time is envisioned to unravel mysteries in modern physics such as hot plasma, sonoluminescence, and nuclear fusion.

Laser-induced incandescence for non-soot nanoparticles: recent trends and current challenges

Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is a widely used combustion diagnostic for in situ measurements of soot primary particle sizes and volume fractions in flames, exhaust gases, and the atmosphere. Increasingly, however, it is applied to characterize engineered nanomaterials, driven by the increasing industrial relevance of these materials and the fundamental scientific insights that may be obtained from these measurements. This review describes the state of the art as well as open research challenges and new opportunities that arise from LII measurements on non-soot nanoparticles. An overview of the basic LII model, along with statistical techniques for inferring quantities-of-interest and associated uncertainties is provided, with a review of the application of LII to various classes of materials, including elemental particles, oxide and nitride materials, and non-soot carbonaceous materials, and core-shell particles. The paper concludes with a discussion of combined and complementary diagnostics, and an outlook of future research.

Single-camera, single-shot, time-resolved laser-induced incandescence decay imaging

Knowledge of soot particle sizes is important for understanding soot formation and heat transfer in combustion environments. Soot primary particle sizes can be estimated by measuring the decay of time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TiRe-LII) signals. Existing methods for making planar TiRe-LII measurements require either multiple cameras or time-gate sweeping with multiple laser pulses, making these techniques difficult to apply in turbulent or unsteady combustion environments. Here, we report a technique for planar soot particle sizing using a single high-sensitivity, ultra-high-speed 10 MHz camera with a 50 ns gate and no intensifier. With this method, we demonstrate measurements of background flame luminosity, prompt LII, and TiRe-LII decay signals for particle sizing in a single laser shot. The particle sizing technique is first validated in a laminar non-premixed ethylene flame. Then, the method is applied to measurements in a turbulent ethylene jet flame.

Temperature measurements in metalized propellant combustion using hybrid fs/ps coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering

We apply ultrafast pure-rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) for temperature and relative oxygen concentration measurements in the plume emanating from a burning, aluminized ammonium-perchlorate propellant strand. Combustion of these metal-based propellants is a particularly hostile environment for laser-based diagnostics, with intense background luminosity and scattering from hot metal particles as large as several hundred micrometers in diameter. CARS spectra that were previously obtained using nanosecond pulsed lasers in an aluminum-particle-seeded flame are examined and are determined to be severely impacted by nonresonant background, presumably as a result of the plasma formed by particulate-enhanced laser-induced breakdown. Introduction of femtosecond/picosecond (fs/ps) laser pulses improves CARS detection by providing time-gated elimination of strong nonresonant background interference. Single-laser-shot fs/ps CARS spectra were acquired from the burning propellant plume, with picosecond probe-pulse delays of 0 and 16 ps from the femtosecond pump and Stokes pulses. At zero delay, nonresonant background overwhelms the Raman-resonant spectroscopic features. Time-delayed probing results in the acquisition of background-free spectra that were successfully fit for temperature and relative oxygen content. Temperature probability densities and temperature/oxygen correlations were constructed from ensembles of several thousand single-laser-shot measurements with the CARS measurement volume positioned within 3 mm or less of the burning propellant surface. The results show that ultrafast CARS is a potentially enabling technology for probing harsh, particle-laden flame environments.

Evaluation of the irising effect of a slow-gating intensified charge-coupled device on laser-induced incandescence measurements of soot

Intensified charge-coupled devices (ICCDs) are used extensively in many scientific and engineering environments to image weak or temporally short optical events. To optimize the quantum efficiency of light collection, many of these devices are chosen to have characteristic intensifier gate times that are relatively slow, on the order of tens of nanoseconds. For many measurements associated with nanosecond laser sources, such as scattering-based diagnostics and most laser-induced fluorescence applications, the signals rise and decay sufficiently fast during and after the laser pulse that the intensifier gate may be set to close after the cessation of the signal and still effectively reject interferences associated with longer time scales. However, the relatively long time scale and complex temporal response of laser-induced incandescence (LII) of nanometer-sized particles (such as soot) offer a difficult challenge to the use of slow-gating ICCDs for quantitative measurements. In this paper, ultraviolet Rayleigh scattering imaging is used to quantify the irising effect of a slow-gating scientific ICCD camera, and an analysis is conducted of LII image data collected with this camera as a function of intensifier gate width. The results demonstrate that relatively prompt LII detection, generally desirable to minimize the influences of particle size and local gas pressure and temperature on measurements of the soot volume fraction, is strongly influenced by the irising effect of slow-gating ICCDs.

Particle formation from pulsed laser irradiation of soot aggregates studied with a scanning mobility particle sizer, a transmission electron microscope, and a scanning transmission x-ray microscope

We investigated the physical and chemical changes induced in soot aggregates exposed to laser radiation using a scanning mobility particle sizer, a transmission electron microscope, and a scanning transmission x-ray microscope to perform near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Laser-induced nanoparticle production was observed at fluences above 0.12 J/cm(2) at 532 nm and 0.22 J/cm(2) at 1064 nm. Our results indicate that new particle formation proceeds via (1) vaporization of small carbon clusters by thermal or photolytic mechanisms, followed by homogeneous nucleation, (2) heterogeneous nucleation of vaporized carbon clusters onto material ablated from primary particles, or (3) both processes.

Absorption correction of two-color laser-induced incandescence signals for soot volume fraction measurements

A numerical iterative procedure is presented for the evaluation of the effect of signal absorption in two-color laser-induced incandescence measurements. The correction process is applied to our experimental data in an axisymmetric flame [Appl. Opt. 44, 7414 (2005)]. The influence of signal trapping on peak soot temperature and on soot volume fraction has been found to be minimal. Some numerical tests were performed to investigate the effects of soot concentration, flame size, and soot refractive index on the magnitude of the signal absorption correction.

Two-color laser-induced incandescence (2C-LII) technique for absolute soot volume fraction measurements in flames

A two-color version of the laser-induced incandescence (2C-LII) technique was implemented for measuring absolute soot volume fraction in flames. By using a calibrated tungsten ribbon lamp, soot peak temperatures were measured as a function of fluence at several locations in an ethylene diffusion flame by using a steeply edged laser beam profile. Above a certain fluence threshold, peak temperatures were tightly distributed just above 4000 K independent of the particle size and number density. Radial profiles of soot volume fraction were obtained and compared (not calibrated) with results from the laser extinction technique. Good agreement showed the validity of the 2C-LII technique at a controlled fluence.

Assessment of soot particle vaporization effects during laser-induced incandescence with time-resolved light scattering

Although laser-induced incandescence (LII) has been successfully used for soot volume fraction and particle size measurements, uncertainties remain regarding issues of soot vaporization leading to mass loss and morphological changes occurring in soot due to intense heating. Prompt LII detection schemes are often based on the assumption that the associated time scale is shorter than the time scale of soot vaporization or sublimation. The validity of such assumptions is the focus of the current study. Time-resolved light-scattering measurements were made in combination with LII measurements to quantify soot particle vaporization effects resulting from the LII laser pulse. The light-scattering measurements revealed a sharp decrease in total soot particle mass during the time course of the 25 ns full-width LII laser pulse for fluences in the range of 0.5 J/cm2. Light-scattering theory was used to invert the scattering data, revealing approximately 80%-90% reductions in the soot particle volume for LII fluences of 0.47 and 0.61 J/cm2. In addition, the time-resolved scattering measurements show that the time scale of soot vaporization is completely confined to the LII laser pulse itself. Light scattering revealed no soot vaporization only for fluences of approximately 0.1 J/cm2, which is consistent with recent work on low-fluence LII. Possible mechanisms for soot vaporization are discussed, notably for near-threshold fluences.