The interpretation of the LII signal in optically dense combusting sprays

A numerical investigation was made of the generation and behaviour of the LII signal in optically dense combusting sprays at conditions similar to those in the combustion chamber of compression ignition engines and gas turbines. The influence of particle size, particle morphology and size distribution on the behaviour of the LII signal, and the scattering and absorption of light, and the consequences that different calibration procedures have on the accuracy of the results were studied. Results show that, as the particle size or aggregation increases, light extinction is not caused only by absorption but also by scattering, which contributes more than 10% to the total extinction of light. Particle shape effects are important, irrespective of particle size. The form, soot concentration gradients and optical thickness of the flame cause an uneven laser fluence across the measuring volume that affects the generation of the LII signal. In addition, the quotient between the transmitted and incoming laser pulses across the flame borders can be as small as a percentage of unity. The interpretation of the induced signal is further challenged by the loss of signal between the measuring volume and the detection arrangement, thus causing the detection of spectrally distorted and weaker signals with an erroneous profile of the local amount of carbonaceous particles. An appropriate calibration procedure must be followed to obtain results that are quantitatively representative. External calibration was found to be inappropriate for these systems since it can lead one to underestimate the local volume fraction for almost two orders of magnitude. Implementing an in situ calibration along a line can lead to underestimate or overestimate the local mean volume fraction by a factor of two. However, the use of an in situ calibration procedure using a laser sheet that propagates through the complete measuring volume can reduce the error in estimating the mean soot volume fraction to a 30%. The latter was found to be the most adequate among the studied calibration routines