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A gliding arc discharge with an averaged power of 630 W at atmospheric pressure was used to ignite an ethylene-fueled scramjet combustor with an inflow speed of Mach number 2.92. The instantaneous power of the plasma and the high-speed CH* chemiluminescence imaging of the ignition process was simultaneously measured to show dynamic characteristics of the gliding arc plasma-assisted ignition. The results show that the power spikes of the spark-type discharges are the key factor to generate the flame kernel in the scramjet combustor and the instantaneous power can reach 3168 W during the power spikes. The flame kernel ignited by the gliding arc discharge can be developed to form an initial flame, which can become larger with increasing contained discharge energy of the gliding arc. Moreover, a comparison between the successful initial flame and the failed initial flame is performed to demonstrate that the larger area of the successful initial flame can propagate for achieving the mainstream flame, whereas the failed initial flame generated multiple times until the successful initial flame was observed. It is concluded that the successful initial flame contains more discharge energy during the initial flame formation, leading to form the resident flame in the recirculation zone.

Interferometric Rayleigh scattering technique is commonly employed to measure single-point velocity fluctuation and its standard deviation in a high-speed flow due to many benefits, such as high accuracy, easy data interpretation, and high sampling rate. However, this technique suffers from a severe problem often referred to as the weak Rayleigh scattering signal, especially in the supersonic and hypersonic flow with an extremely low gas molecule density. An asymmetry cavity structure that could cost-effectively improve the Rayleigh scattering (RS) signal of interest is designed and used in the interferemetric Rayleigh scattering technique. The ZEMAX simulations suggest that the parallel beam can be repeatedly reflected in the resonant cavity and can be focused in a measurement region with the order of 0.67 mm×1.31 mm. The number of propagating rays inside the cavity can reach about 50. The fidelity of this proposed cavity is then verified by the Rayleigh scattering imaging experiments. Results show that this cavity allows the laser beam to reflect several times in the resonant cavity, and the RS signal intensity in the major axis can be 10.4 times larger than that of the incident laser. The cavity is finally employed under realistic supersonic flow velocity measurements, where the results conclusively illustrate that the Rayleigh scattering signal of interest in a single direction can be improved by a factor of 4∼5. In addition, the bi-directional (both the axial and radial directions) velocity parameters can also be obtained simultaneously. The axial velocity and its standard deviation are similar to conventional single-line ones.

The ultra-wide band (UWB) radar sensor is widely used in Radar-based Life Detecting System for search and rescue due to its short detection time, high penetrating power and low energy consumption. However, performance of non-contact detection is limited in complex post-disaster environments due to the noise and clutter. In this paper, a hybrid feature extraction method based on Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT), Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and correlation analysis is proposed to obtain the echo signal features. Then a classification model based on support vector machine (SVM) is established to identify the respiratory information embedded in the echo signal. The experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately identify the location of human body through different obstacles.

Reliable and fast ignition of scramjet engine is quite important in consideration of high velocity and low pressure of inlet air. Successful ignition requires that sufficient ignition energy be injected into the flame kernel so that the flame propagates outwardly beyond the critical initial radius of the critical flame. Larger critical flame initiation radius is required during the preliminary stage of scramjet engine so advanced ignition technology for scramjet engines is urgently needed. In this study, multichannel plasma igniter (MCPI) is proposed to induce a relatively larger ignition kernel for the purpose of achieving successful ignition in scramjet engines. Ignition experiments in a model scramjet combustor fueled by ethylene were conducted with inflow conditions of Ma = 2.52, stagnation pressure P 0 = 1.6 MPa and stagnation temperature T 0 = 1600 K. Ignition processes of SI and MCPI at different fuel injection schemes were captured by CH∗ chemiluminescence imaging and flame luminosity imaging technology. Results reveal that MCPI with five channels generates 5 times more ignition energy than SI and MCPI can generate much larger plasma volume and activated area which can induce a relatively larger initial flame kernel. The CH intensity of MCPI was about 2.2 times larger than that of conventional SI. Besides, it was shown that the lean ignition limit of scramjet combustor through MCPI was extended by 20–26% than that through SI and the ignition time was reduced by approximately 50%. MCPI with an injection 10 mm upstream the cavity demonstrates the best performance in this study.

Experimental investigations of laser-induced plasma (LIP) ignition processes were conducted in an ethylene-fueled scramjet combustor with a rear-wall-expansion cavity. The results were obtained und...

The ignition processes in an ethylene-fueled supersonic combustor excited by laser-induced plasma (LIP) were investigated experimentally under the condition of inflow Ma number of 2.92. The LIP excitation was implemented near the center floor of a flameholding cavity. Optical measurements, including simultaneous CH∗/OH∗ chemiluminescence imaging and Schlieren photography, were used to investigate the ignition processes. It is found that the CH∗ and OH∗ initiated by the LIP are mainly in the region between the cavity front wall and the LIP excitation site. The CH∗ and OH∗ are quenched rapidly, in particular at a low fueling rate. After a short delay, the distribution of CH∗ and OH∗ appears in the region between the rear wall of the cavity and the LIP excitation site, showing the onset of ignition therein. A stable flame was established in the shear layer between the downstream part of the cavity and the outer supersonic flow. It is concluded that the ignition processes excited by the LIP can be divided into a LIP initiation regime and a transient ignition reaction regime. Both the fueling rate and the LIP energy significantly affect the cavity ignition processes. Increasing the fueling rate or the laser energy can shorten the ignition processes in the cavity. A weak ignition mode and an intense ignition mode are postulated to explain the combustion behavior of the ignition processes in the cavity-based supersonic combustor.

Ignition and flame stability in supersonic flow have always been the key problems of research in scramjet. In addition, ignition is difficult and the cavity flameholder is susceptible to support the flame stability under extreme conditions such as low equivalent ratio. In recent years, gliding arc plasma is recognized to expand ignition and extinction limit with lower energy consumption in the field of plasma assisted ignition due to its heating and chemical effects. In this paper, a gliding arc igniter has been designed and compared with the traditional spark plug in order to quantify the ignition ability. The igniter has the same size with the spark plug, using low-power AC gliding arc to carry out ethylene ignition test in Ma = 2.52 Ma supersonic flow. The average power of gliding arc discharge is 1199 W. A high-speed camera and CH⁎ chemiluminescence were used to make combustion diagnosis. Founded in the same discharge period, the lean ignition limit of the gliding arc is lower than the ignition limit of the spark. The average expansion of ethylene ignition limit is 17%. The ignition process is that gliding arc continues to generate the initial flame kernels during the discharge period, but it is extinguished continuously due to the strong convection. Until generating an initial flame kernel which can successfully propagate the flame. The ignition process can be divided into four stages. It continues to generate new flame kernels in flame propagation process. Gliding arc reignites the fuel and generates the new flame kernels after forming a stable flame, appearing intermittent ignition in the cavity. The high equivalent ratio can make ignition delay time shorter, generating initial flame kernels more frequently. The heating effect of the gliding arc and reignition character make the thermal product and ethylene occur intermittent combustion more often in the cavity, increasing the area of the combustion reaction. Gliding arc plasma can achieve combustion enhancement during the flame stabilization process. The shear layer of flame thickness increased by the average of 2 mm on S-B-1 and G-B-1 conditions. Compared with the traditional spark ignition, gliding arc broaden the lean blow-off limit in different stages may be the significant reason for broadening lean ignition limit. It concludes that gliding arc makes the flame's ignition limit closer to the flame's blow-off limit.

Laser-induced plasma (LIP) ignition processes in a cavity-based scramjet combustor were investigated experimentally in this study. CH⁎ spontaneous emission recorded at a flame rate of 50 kHz was used to characterize the ignition and flame stabilization processes. Numerical calculation was also performed to characterize the non-reacting flow-field structures. Effect of cavity fueling schemes on the LIP ignition process in the rear-wall-expansion cavity was then examined. It is found that the cavity fueling scheme acts as a dominant factor in a LIP ignition process. After a LIP ignition in the cavity rearward, the initial flame kernel is likely to anchor and grow directly in the rearward of the cavity under cavity upstream fueling schemes. However, the flame kernel will propagate towards the cavity leading edge and grow there under cavity direct fueling schemes. It is concluded that both chemical and turbulent issues of the flow-field affect the LIP ignition process. Local fuel-rich environment inside the cavity is favorable for a LIP ignition process, and the fueling scheme with parallel fuel injectors upstream the cavity is most favorable for a LIP ignition which presents a stable combustion process.

Spark ignition processes in an ethylene-fueled scramjet combustor with a rear-wall-expansion geometry were investigated experimentally at the inflow condition of Ma = 2.92 with a stagnation pressure 2.6 MPa and a stagnation temperature 1530 K. Optical measurements including OH ∗ , CH ∗ spontaneous emission and high-speed photography of flame luminosity, were carried out to characterize the ignition and stabilization processes of the flame. Static pressure measurements were also conducted to provide quantitative information of wall-pressure distributions of the combustor. Effects of ignition locations and fuel injection schemes on the ignition possibility, initial flame propagation and flame stabilization processes were studied. It was found that the injection scheme with two parallel injectors (10 mm upstream the cavity) is more favorable for ignition than that with two cascaded injectors (30 mm and 10 mm upstream the cavity). The ignition location near the cavity rear-wall always shows a better ignition performance for both these schemes. It was demonstrated that spark plasma can enhance the combustion during the flame stabilization process. The injection scheme with two cascaded injectors (30 mm and 10 mm upstream the cavity) is more sensitive to the spark plasma than that with two parallel injectors (10 mm upstream the cavity). The injection scheme with two cascaded injectors (30 mm and 10 mm upstream the cavity) is also favorable for the flame stabilization process.

A multi-channel gliding arc (MCGA) plasma was utilized to suppress combustion mode transition in a hydrogen-fueled cavity-based scramjet combustor with an inflow speed of Ma2.92. Several optical and electrical techniques, including OH* chemiluminescence, optical emission spectrum, discharge waveform acquisition, and pressure measurements, were employed to show the characteristics of the MCGA discharge and the processes of the combustion mode transitions. When the MCGA is off, the flame frequently oscillates between a cavity shear-layer mode and a cavity-stabilized mode at a low global equivalence ratio, whereas the flame is more likely to be kept in the cavity-stabilized mode when the MCGA is on. The ratio of the cavity-stabilized mode increases from 28.2% to 93% when the plasma is on. The combustion frequently oscillates between a cavity-stabilized mode and a jet-wake stabilized mode at a high global equivalence ratio, but the mode transitions can be suppressed significantly in the presence of the MCGA. The ratio of the jet-wake stabilized increases from 21.9% to 48.8% when the MCGA is on. The Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method is employed to analyze the oscillation, and it is found that the mean energy content of the large-scale oscillation across the different modes can be significantly suppressed by the MCGA. A plausible explanation can be mainly related to the reactions of N 2 * species with O generated by the MCGA, which increases the temperature in the vicinity of the plasma. The temperature rises spread to the entire cavity with higher backpressure, and results in better mixing and more intense combustion, leading to the suppression of the combustion mode transitions.

Precise control of the discharge in space and time is of great significance for better applications of discharge plasma. Here, we used a femtosecond laser filament to trigger and guide a high-voltage DC pulse discharge to achieve spatiotemporal control of the discharge plasma. In space, the discharge plasma is distributed strictly along the channel generated by the femtosecond laser filament. The breakdown voltage threshold is reduced, and the discharge length is extended. In time, the electrical parameters such as the electrode voltage and the electrode gap affect discharge delay time and jitter. By optimizing the parameters, we can achieve sub-nanosecond jitter of the discharge. Based on the spatiotemporal control of the discharge, we applied filament-triggered discharge for one-dimensional composition measurements of the gas flow field. Besides, the technique shows great potential in studying the spatiotemporal evolution of discharge plasma.

Dual-pulse laser-induced plasma ignition of kerosene in cavity at model scramjet engine is studied. The simulated flight condition is Ma 6 at 30 km, and the isolator entrance has a Mach number of 2.92, a total pressure of 2.6 MPa and a stagnation temperature of 1650 K. Two independent laser pulses at 532 nm with a pulse width of 10 ns, a diameter of 12 mm and a maximum energy of 300 mJ are focused into cavity for ignition. The flame structure and propagation during transient ignition processes are captured by simultaneous CH* and OH* chemiluminescence imaging. The entire ignition process of kerosene can be divided into five stages, which are referred as turbulent dissipation stage, quasi-stable state, combustion enhancement stage, reverting stage and combustion stabilization stage. A local closed loop of propagations of the burning mixtures from the shear layer into the recirculation zone of cavity is revealed, which the large-scale eddy in the shear layer plays a key role. The enhancement of mass exchange between shear layer and the recirculation zone of cavity could promote the flame propagation process and enhance the ignition capability as well as extend the ignition limits. A cavity shear-layer stabilized combustion of kerosene is established in the supersonic flow roughly 3.3 ms after the laser pulse. Chemical reactions mainly occur in the shear layer and the near-wall zone downstream of the cavity. The distribution of OH* is thicker than CH* at stable combustion condition.

Cavity ignition of a model scramjet combustor fueled by ethylene was achieved through laser induced plasma, with inflow conditions of Ma = 2.92, total temperature T0 = 1650 K and stagnation pressure P0 = 2.6 MPa. The overall equivalent ratio was kept at 0.152 for all the tests. The ignition processes at different ignition energies and various ignition positions were captured by CH∗ and OH∗ chemiluminescence imaging. The results reveal that the initial flame kernel is carried to the cavity leading edge by the recirculation flow, and resides there for ∼100 μs before spreading downstream. The ignition time can be reduced, and the possibility of successful ignition for single laser pulse can be promoted by enhancing ignition energy. The scale and strength of the initial flame kernel is influenced by both the ignition energy and position. In present study, the middle part of the cavity is the best position for ignition, as it keeps a good balance between the strength of initial flame kernel and the impacts of strain rate in recirculation flow.

Kerosene distribution before its ignition in a scramjet combustor with dual cavity was measured using kerosene-PLIF under transverse injection upstream of the cavity and different injection pressures. The simulated flight condition is Ma 5.5, and the isolator entrance has a Mach number of 2.52, a total pressure of 1.6 MPa and a stagnation temperature of 1486 K. Effects of injection pressure on fuel distribution characteristics were analyzed. The majority of kerosene is present in the cavity shear layer as well as its upper region. Kerosene extends gradually into the cavity, almost, at a constant angle. Large scale structures are evident on the windward side of kerosene. The cavity shear layer plays an important role in determining the kerosene distribution and its entrainment into the cavity. The middle part of cavity is the most suitable location for ignition as a result of a favorable local equivalent ratio. As the injection pressure increases, the penetration height gets higher with the rate of increase getting slower at higher injection pressure. Meanwhile, the portion of kerosene entrained into cavity through shear layer becomes smaller as injection pressure increases. However, the kerosene entrained into cavity still increase due to the increased mass flow rate of kerosene.

A gliding arc discharge was employed to ignite an ethylene-fueled scramjet combustor with an inflow speed of Ma = 2.92. Flame chemiluminescence and Schlieren photography were recorded simultaneously with CH∗ emission images and discharge waveforms for showing the ignition characteristics in the cavity. The direct ignition mode and the re-ignition mode can be identified. In the direct ignition mode, the initial flame can be directly ignited. In the re-ignition mode, the flame kernel is unable to form an initial flame in the early stage of the ignition process, which can be found from the quenching CH∗ emission of the flame kernel. The CH∗ emission can be seen again although its quenching lasts for ∼700 μs and the re-ignition of the initial flame can be developed to further establish a cavity-stabilized flame. Local equivalence ratio, the instantaneous power of the gliding arc, the area of the flame kernel, and the moving trail of the flame play important roles in determining the ignition modes of the scramjet combustor. The re-ignition mode is more likely to be observed in the local fuel-lean environment and exhibits a longer flame propagation time (1.6 times) and a smaller flame kernel (15%) than those of the direct ignition mode.

A multi-channel gliding arc (MCGA) plasma was used to enhance ignition and combustion of ethylene fuel in a cavity-based scramjet combustor with an inflow speed of Ma = 2.92. Simultaneously electro-optical diagnostics were conducted to show characteristics of the MCGA-enhanced ignition and combustion, as well as simultaneous schlieren and CH* emission images. The voltage and current measurements demonstrate that the average power of the MCGA declines from 1824 W of an ignition state to 1196 W of a stable combustion state. Several flame kernels produced simultaneously by the power spikes of the MCGA can be merged to enhance the ignition, resulting in a faster speed of flame propagation (48% reduction in the flame propagation time) and a shorter ignition time (61% reduction in the ignition time) compared to the ignition by a single-channel gliding arc. The enhancement effect of the MCGA on combustion is more significant with an increasing global equivalence ratio. The wall pressure of the scramjet combustor in the presence of the MCGA at a global equivalence ratio of 0.22 is comparable to the pressure at a global equivalence ratio of 0.32 in the absence of the MCGA. The main reasons for the significant combustion enhancement may be the re-ignition of the cavity flame by the MCGA plasma, adding extra heat and reactive species to the flame in the shear layer.

Effects of additional cavity floor injection on the ethylene ignition and combustion processes in a cavity-based scramjet combustor are investigated experimentally in a Mach 2.0 supersonic flow using flame luminosity and CH* (CH radical) spontaneous emission methods and static pressure measurements. Numerical calculation is performed to study the non-reacting flow-field structures prior to ignition. Two injection schemes, including the cavity upstream injection scheme and the combined injection scheme with an additional cavity floor injection, are compared to study the effects of the additional cavity floor injection on the ignition and combustion processes. It is found that there exists an equivalence ratio upper limit for maintaining stable combustion for the cavity upstream injection scheme. As the equivalence ratio further increases, the fuel jet penetration is improved accordingly, and thus, the interaction between the fuel jet and the cavity is weakened, which can lead to the ignition failure and flame blowout during combustion. On the contrary, although the combined injection scheme has a minor effect on combustion enhancement at the same global equivalence ratio, it can also provide a more favorable flow-field environment that enables more successful ignitions and better flame stabilizations. For the combined injection scheme, as the equivalence ratio increases, the initial flame propagations are observed to perform different routines during the ignition process, and the major combustion reaction zone tends to move further downstream the cavity shear layer. It is concluded that the advantages of the combined injection scheme with an additional cavity floor injection are more significant when the equivalence ratio is higher, as well as that the interaction between the fuel jet and the cavity becomes weaker.

The ozone (O3) decomposition in the pre-heat zone of flames can initiate and accelerate the chain-branching reactions. In the present study, formaldehyde (CH2O) was investigated by both experiment and simulation methods in methane/air laminar premixed flames under atmospheric conditions. The formaldehyde concentration profiles in the flames were measured with CH2O-PLIF. When 4500 ppm of ozone was added, the formaldehyde concentration in Bunsen type laminar flame was enhanced by 58.5% at fuel-rich condition (I = 1.4) and 15.5% at stoichiometric condition. In the simulation work, the most recent ozone sub-mechanism was coupled with GRI-mech 3.0 kinetic mechanism. It showed that with 4500 ppm ozone addition, the formaldehyde concentration was enhanced by about 48.1% at rich condition (I = 1.4) and about 14.7% in stoichiometric mixture. The simulation suggested an early production of CH2O with ozone addition, especially in rich conditions. These reactions occurred at relatively low temperature, around 500 K. In order to isolate these reactions from the flame, experiments with preheated unburned mixtures were carried out. A larger amount of formaldehyde was produced in the zone far from the flame as the preheating temperature was increased. It indicated that the combustion enhancement with ozone could be caused by the additional reactions of ozone at relatively low temperature. Simulations showed that methoxy radical (CH3O) is the key specie for production of formaldehyde at lower temperatures. Early in the pre-heat zone of the laminar flame, formaldehyde occurs via decomposition of CH3O while in the pre-heated gas mixture via reaction of CH3O with O2. Furthermore, the O3 effect on turbulent flames was investigated showing a greater enhancement in formaldehyde signal than that in the laminar cases. This difference in formaldehyde signal enhancement could be attributed to the expansion of the preheat zone, due to turbulence. (Less)

An alternating current (AC) gliding arc can be conveniently operated at atmospheric pressure and efficiently elongated into the ambient air by an air flow and thus is useful for surface modification. A high speed camera was used to capture dynamics of the AC gliding arc in the presence of polymer surfaces. A gap was observed between the polymer surface and the luminous region of the plasma column, indicating the existence of a gas boundary layer. The thickness of the gas boundary layer is smaller at higher gas flow-rates or with ultrasonic irradiation to the AC gliding arc and the polymer surface. Water contact angle measurements indicate that the treatment uniformity improves significantly when the AC gliding arc is tilted to the polymer surface. Thickness reduction of the gas boundary layer, explaining the improvement of surface treatment, by the ultrasonic irradiation was directly observed for the first time.

Gaining information of species, temperature, and velocity distributions in turbulent combustion and high-speed reactive flows is challenging, particularly for conducting measurements without influencing the experimental object itself. The use of optical and spectroscopic techniques, and in particular laser-based diagnostics, has shown outstanding abilities for performing non-intrusive in situ diagnostics. The development of instrumentation, such as robust lasers with high pulse energy, ultra-short pulse duration, and high repetition rate along with digitized cameras exhibiting high sensitivity, large dynamic range, and frame rates on the order of MHz, has opened up for temporally and spatially resolved volumetric measurements of extreme dynamics and complexities. The aim of this article is to present selected important laser-based techniques for gas-phase diagnostics focusing on their applications in combustion and aerospace engineering. Applicable laser-based techniques for investigations of turbulent flows and combustion such as planar laser-induced fluorescence, Raman and Rayleigh scattering, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, laser-induced grating scattering, particle image velocimetry, laser Doppler anemometry, and tomographic imaging are reviewed and described with some background physics. In addition, demands on instrumentation are further discussed to give insight in the possibilities that are offered by laser flow diagnostics.

The stability and re-ignition characteristics of the plasma column of an alternating current (AC) powered gliding arc discharge operating in atmospheric-pressure air were investigated for better plasma-mode controlling and optimized applications. By modulating the AC power supply and the air flow field, the states of afterglow plasma column were varied. When pulsating the AC power supply sequence, re-ignitions of the afterglow columns were introduced and their characteristics were studied using simultaneous high-speed photography and electrical measurements. Two re-ignition types were observed in the afterglow column with different decay times (the temporal separation of two sequential pulsed AC power trains). For a short decay time (120 kV/m), the electron impact ionization becomes dominant to trigger the spark re-ignition event.

A high-power gliding arc (GA) discharge was generated in a turbulent air flow driven by a 35 kHz alternating current electric power supply. The effects of the flow rate on the characteristics of the GA discharge were investigated using combined optical and electrical diagnostics. Phenomenologically, the GA discharge exhibits two types of discharge, i.e., glow type and spark type, depending on the flow rates and input powers. The glow-type discharge, which has peak currents of hundreds of milliamperes, is sustained at low flow rates. The spark-type discharge, which is characterized by a sharp current spike of several amperes with duration of less than 1 μs, occurs more frequently as the flow rate increases. Higher input power can suppress spark-type discharges in moderate turbulence, but this effect becomes weak under high turbulent conditions. Physically, the transition between glow- and spark-type is initiated by the short cutting events and the local re-ignition events. Short cutting events occur owing to the twisting, wrinkling, and stretching of the plasma columns that are governed by the relatively large vortexes in the flow. Local re-ignition events, which are defined as re-ignition along plasma columns, are detected in strong turbulence due to increment of the impedance of the plasma column and consequently the internal electric field strength. It is suggested that the vortexes with length scales smaller than the size of the plasma can penetrate into the plasma column and promote mixing with surroundings to accelerate the energy dissipation. Therefore, the turbulent flow influences the GA discharges by ruling the short cutting events with relatively large vortexes and the local re-ignition events with small vortexes.

An experimental setup for microwave stimulation of a turbulent flame is presented. A low-swirl flame is being exposed to continuous microwave irradiation inside an aluminum cavity. The cavity is designed with inlets for laser beams and a viewport for optical access. The aluminum cavity is operated as a resonator where the microwave mode pattern is matched to the position of the flame. Two metal meshes are working as endplates in the resonator, one at the bottom and the other at the top. The lower mesh is located right above the burner nozzle so that the low-swirl flame is able to freely propagate inside the cylinder cavity geometry whereas the upper metal mesh can be tuned to achieve good overlap between the microwave mode pattern and the flame volume. The flow is characterized for operating conditions without microwave irradiation using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Microwave absorption is simultaneously monitored with experimental investigations of the flame in terms of exhaust gas temperature, flame chemiluminescence (CL) analysis as well as simultaneous planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of formaldehyde (CH2O) and hydroxyl radicals (OH). Results are presented for experiments conducted in two different regimes of microwave power. In the high-energy regime the microwave field is strong enough to cause a breakdown in the flame. The breakdown spark develops into a swirl-stabilized plasma due to the continuous microwave stimulation. In the low-energy regime, which is below plasma formation, the flame becomes larger and more stable and it moves upstream closer to the burner nozzle when microwaves are absorbed by the flame. As a result of a larger flame the exhaust gas temperature, flame CL and OH PLIF signals are increased as microwave energy is absorbed by the flame.

The effect of ozone (O3) in a turbulent, swirl-stabilized natural gas/air flame was experimentally investigated at atmospheric pressure conditions using planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging of formaldehyde (CH2O PLIF) and dynamic pressure monitoring. The experiment was performed using a dry low emission (DLE) gas turbine burner used in both SGT-700 and SGT-800 industrial gas turbines from Siemens. The burner was mounted in an atmospheric combustion test rig at Siemens with optical access in the flame region. CH2O PLIF imaging was carried out for four different seeding gas compositions and seeding injection channel configurations. Two seeding injection-channels were located around the burner tip while the other two were located along the center axis of the burner at different distances upstream the burner outlet. Four different seeding gas compositions were used: nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2) and two ozone/oxygen (O3/O2) mixtures with different O3 concentration. The results show that the O3 clearly affects the combustion chemistry. The natural gas/air mixture is preheated before combustion which is shown to kick-start the cold combustion chemistry where O3 is highly involved. The CH2O PLIF signal increases with O3 seeded into the flame which indicates that the pre-combustion activity increases and that the cold chemistry starts to develop further upstream. The small increase of the pressure drop over the burner shows that the flame moves upstream when O3 is seeded into the flame, which confirms the increase in pre-combustion activity.

To optimize a laser ignition scheme, absorption rate measurements and Schlieren visualizations are performed on dual-pulse laser-induced breakdowns (LIBs) at incident energies from 50 mJ to 200 mJ and pulse intervals that range from 20 ns to 250 μs in quiescent air at atmospheric pressure. For comparison, experiments on single-pulse LIBs are also conducted. The shock loss is determined using a semi-empirical model (Jones' model), and quantitative information on the spatial distribution of the hot plume is extracted from Schlieren images using in-house code. The results reveal that multi-location laser ignition can be achieved without reducing the energy absorption or strengthening the shock loss only when the energy of each laser pulse exceeds 200 mJ. This requirement is because the absorption rate of single-pulse LIB decreases significantly when the laser energy is lower than 200 mJ, and the shock loss of single-pulse LIB invariably accounts for approximately 80% of the absorbed laser energy at various i...

Quantitative characterization of a high-power glow-mode gliding arc (GM-GA) discharge operated in open air is performed using a current-voltage lumped model that is built from the perspective of energy balance and electron conservation. The GM-GA discharge is powered by a 35 kHz alternating current power supply. Instantaneous images of the discharge volume are recorded using a high-speed camera at a frame rate of 50 kHz, synchronized with the simultaneously recorded current and voltage waveforms. Detailed analyzation indicates that the electrical input power is dissipated mainly through the transport of vibrationally excited nitrogen and other active radicals (such as O). The plasma is quite non-thermal with the ratio of vibrational and translational temperatures (Tv/Tg) larger than 2 due to the intense energy dissipation. The electron number density reaches 3 × 1019 m-3 and is always above the steady value owing to the short cutting events, which can recover the electron density to a relatively large value and limits the maximum length of the gliding arc. The slow decaying rate of electrons is probably attributed to the decomposed state of a hot gaseous mixture and the related associative ionization.

A gliding arc is a quenched plasma that can be operated as a non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure and that is thus suitable for large-scale plasma surface treatment. For its practical industrial use the discharge should be extended stably in ambient air. A simple analytical calculation based on Ohm’s law indicates that the critical length of alternating current (AC) gliding arc discharge columns can be larger than that of a corresponding direct current (DC) gliding arc. This finding is supported by previously published images of AC and DC gliding arcs. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the critical length can be increased by increasing the AC frequency, decreasing the serial resistance and lowering the gas flow rate. The predicted dependence of gas flow rate on the arc length is experimentally demonstrated. The gap width is varied to study an optimal electrode design, since the extended non-equilibrium discharge can be extinguished due to the ignition of an arc discharge at the closest electrode gap. It is experimentally found that as the gap is wider, the discharge column tends to be longer.

Rapid transition from glow discharge to thermal arc has been a common problem in generating stable high-power non-thermal plasmas especially at ambient conditions. A sustained diffusive gliding arc discharge was generated in a large volume in atmospheric pressure air, driven by an alternating current (AC) power source. The plasma column extended beyond the water-cooled stainless steel electrodes and was stabilized by matching the flow speed of the turbulent air jet with the rated output power. Comprehensive investigations were performed using high-speed movies measured over the plasma column, synchronized with simultaneously recorded current and voltage waveforms. Dynamic details of the novel non-equilibrium discharge are revealed, which is characterized by a sinusoidal current waveform with amplitude stabilized at around 200 mA intermediate between thermal arc and glow discharge, shedding light to the governing mechanism of the sustained spark-suppressed AC gliding arc discharge.

A gliding arc discharge was generated in a turbulent air flow at atmospheric pressure driven by a 35 kHz alternating current (AC) electric power. The spatiotemporally resolved characteristics of the gliding arc discharge, including glow-type discharges, spark-type discharges, short-cutting events and transitions among the different types of discharges, were investigated using simultaneously optical and electrical diagnostics. The glow-type discharge shows sinusoidal-like voltage and current waveforms with a peak current of hundreds of milliamperes. The frequency of the emission intensity variation of the glow-type discharge is the same as that of the electronic power dissipated in the plasma column. The glow-type discharge can transfer into a spark discharge characterized by a sharp peak current of several amperes and a sudden increase of the brightness in the plasma column. Transitions can also be found to take place from spark-type discharges to glow-type discharges. Short-cutting events were often observed as the intermediate states formed during the spark-glow transition. Three different types of short-cutting events have been observed to generate new current paths between two plasma channel segments, and between two electrodes, as well as between the channel segment and the electrodes, respectively. The short-cut upper part of the plasma column that was found to have no current passing through can be detected several hundreds of microseconds after the short-cutting event. The voltage recovery rate, the period of AC voltage-driving signal, the flow rates and the rated input powers were found to play an important role in affecting the transitions among the different types of discharges.

Taking the improved SRS threshold formula into consideration, the power scaling of tandem-pumped Yb-doped silica fiber lasers and amplifiers is analyzed by new models. The results show that the power scaling of tandem-pumped Yb-doped fiber lasers and amplifiers is primarily limited by optical damage, SRS and thermal lens, while the pump brightness induced limitation is almost removed. It is also found that tandem-pumped Yb-doped fiber lasers and amplifiers, based upon state-of-art fiber technology, have the potential to achieve a power limit of 70.7 kW with a core diameter of 63.4 μm, and in the case of a strict single-mode fiber, the power limit is about 13.3 kW with a core numerical aperture of 0.03.

We have demonstrated a novel approach to obtain high power narrow-linewidth fiber laser radiation by incoherent beam combination of three single-mode fiber lasers utilizing a laser combiner. The central wavelength of the fiber laser is 1080 nm with an optical bandwidth narrower than 0.3 nm. Each fiber laser channel is based on a direct pumped oscillator. In every laser channel, a 976 nm wavelength, 105 μm fiber pigtailed laser diodes of 9-W maximal power are employed, and the pump power is directly launched into the double-clad Yb-doped fiber. The three single-mode fiber lasers are then incoherently combined by a 4×1 laser combiner. More than 14 W total output power is obtained with a combining efficiency of 90% above.

In this paper, we studied theoretically influence of the polarization-state fluctuation on coherent beam combining (CBC) of fiber lasers. We investigated far-field intensity distribution of the coherently combined fiber laser beams when the polarization-state varies with time and computed the visibility of the beam profile. The CBC of fiber laser arrays with time-varying polarization-state was mathematically modeled and the effect of polarization-state fluctuation was numerically evaluated. The dependence of visibility on the number of fiber laser was computed. Numerical results showed that the polarization-state fluctuation has a serious influence of coherent beam combining of fiber lasers in the case of small number, nevertheless, if the number of laser is larger than 10, the minimal visibility can be as high as more than 80% in the case of random time-varying polarization-state fluctuation.

Theoretical research on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) suppression shows that the SBS threshold in multitone-driven narrow-linewidth high-power amplifiers can be enhanced. In this paper, a two-stage amplification all-fiber amplifier system is set up to investigate SBS effect in multitone-driven high-power amplifiers. In one case the system is seeded with a 1064 nm single frequency laser with output power of 43 mW. In another case the system is seeded with a narrow-linewidth laser with center walvelength around 1064 nm and output power of 45 mW. In the last case the system is seeded with both the aforementioned lasers. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. The SBS threshold in the last case is highest in those three cases.

A burner design with integrated electrodes was used to couple a gliding arc (GA) discharge to a high-power and large-scale turbulent flame for flame stabilization. Simultaneous OH and CH2O planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) and CH PLIF measurements were conducted to visualize instantaneous structures of the GA-assisted flame. Six different regions of the GA-assisted flame were resolved by the multi-species PLIF measurements, including the plasma core, the discharge-induced OH region, the post-flame OH region, the flame front, the preheat CH2O region and the fresh gas mixture. Specifically, the OH profile was observed to be ring-shaped around the gliding arc discharge channel. The formaldehyde (CH2O) was found to be widely distributed in the entire measurement volume even at a low equivalence ratio of 0.4, which suggest that long-lived species from the gliding arc discharge have induced low-temperature oxidations of CH4. The CH layer coincides with the interface of the OH and CH2O regions and indicates that the flame front and the discharge channel are spatially separated by a distance of 3–5 mm. These results reveal that the discharge column acts as a movable pilot flame, providing active radicals and thermal energy to sustain the flame. High-speed video photography was also employed to record the dynamics of the GA-assisted flame. This temporally resolved data was used to study the ignition and propagation behaviors of the flame in response to a temporally modulated burst-mode discharge. The results indicate that turbulent flame can be sustained by matching temporal parameters of the high-voltage bursts to the extinction time of flame.

A non-equilibrium gliding arc discharge anchored on two diverging stainless steel electrodes was extended into open air by a toluene-containing air jet. The removal process of the toluene by the non-equilibrium gliding arc discharge was investigated through in situ and non-intrusive laser-based techniques. Simultaneous planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of toluene and OH radicals were employed to achieve on-line visualization of the toluene decomposing process by the gliding arc discharge column. Toluene PLIF images with high spatial and temporal resolution showed that the non-equilibrium plasma of the gliding arc discharge is effective in decomposing toluene molecules. Instantaneous toluene removal efficiency was estimated from the toluene PLIF images, showing that the initial toluene concentrations and oxygen concentrations affected the toluene removal efficiency. The toluene removal efficiency decreased with the initial toluene concentration, whereas the efficiency increased with the oxygen concentration. The OH generation in the discharge was found to be enhanced with an increase of the toluene concentration from the OH PLIF results. The relative instantaneous distribution between the OH produced from the discharge channels and the toluene flow was simultaneously visualized. The instantaneous distributions of toluene and OH radicals that were acquired simultaneously by PLIF, were well complementary, suggesting that radicals generated by the gliding arc discharge were responsible for toluene removal in the active volume of the gliding arc discharge. The effective width of the plasma volume for the toluene removal were measured, which gives a new insight into the optimization of industrial design for practical gliding arc reactors.