Optical Diagnostics in High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustor R&D: The Tricky Balance Between Customers' Wishes, Cost, and the Limits of Physics

Abstract

The presentation addresses the topic of bringing laser diagnostics from a lab environment to the rough conditions of mid-TRL industry testing environments. The spectrum of diagnostics that are regularly applied in DLR's high-pressure combustion facilities covers PIV, Mie-scattering (fuel placement), kerosene-LIF, OH-PLIF, LII, chemiluminescence and filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS). Some other techniques such as Doppler global velocimetry and acetone PLIF or single point techniques like CARS, PDA/LDA are nowadays used less frequently. On the other hand endoscopic imaging and illumination as well as high-speed diagnostics and 3-D (tomographic) imaging are increasingly applied in the complex environment of high-pressure combustor R&D.