Computed tomography for flame chemiluminescence emissions allows for 3D spatially resolved flame measurements to be acquired using a series of discrete viewing angle camera images. To determine fuel/air ratios, the ratio of excited radical species (OH*/CH*) emissions using chemiluminescence can be employed. Following the process of high-resolution tomography reconstructions in this work allowed for flame tomography coupled with chemiluminescence emissions to be used for spatially resolved phase averaged equivalence ratio measurements. This is important as variations in local equivalence ratios can have a profound effect on flame behavior including but not limited to thermoacoustic instability, NOx and CO formation, and flame stabilization. Local equivalence ratios are determined from a OH*/CH* ratio of tomographically reconstructed intensity fields and relating them to equivalence ratio. The correlation of OH*/CH* to equivalence ratio is derived from an axisymmetric, commercially available flat flame burner (Holthuis and Associates Burner). To relate intensity field imaging (camera coordinate system) during the tomographic reconstruction to the real-world coordinate system of the burner a calibration procedure was performed and then validated. A calibration plate with 39 non-coplanar points was used in this procedure. It was then validated by comparing the Abel inverted flame images of the axisymmetric Holthuis and Associates burner with the tomographic reconstructed images. Results show a successful tomographic reconstruction of thermoacoustic self-excited cycle concluding equivalence ratio fluctuations coinciding with the 1st dominate frequency of the pressure fluctuations and influenced by a 2nd harmonic frequency. / Master of Science / In recent years tomographic reconstruction of flames have gained significant focus in understanding different flame phenomenon. One specific flame phenomenon is known as a thermoacoustic instability. Using highspeed cameras for chemiluminescence imaging of specific species can help define heat release rate, air/fuel ratio/equivalence ratio spatially. Coupling of pressure measurements to imaging methods can be used to determine the flames response to acoustic perturbations in the flow field. Every optics system has inherently different light transmission characteristics and therefore, needs to be calibrated/correlated using a known flame source. The work done in this paper used a Holthuis and Associates flat flame as the known flame source in conjunction with an optics system to correlate OH*/CH* ratio to equivalence ratio. This is possible due to the perfectly premixed nature the flat flame provides. The correlation curve for the optics system is then applied to the tomographically reconstructed chemiluminescence intensities during a self-excited thermo-acoustic instability. In addition, a flat flame burner was used to validate the tomography approach and calibration procedure. In conclusion the objective of this work develops and validates a method for use in tomographic reconstruction of spatially varying equivalence ratios.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/107111 |
| Date | 17 December 2021 |
| Creators | Hugger, Blaine Thomas |
| Contributors | Mechanical Engineering, Meadows, Joseph, Ng, Wing Fai, Lowe, Kevin T. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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