High-Sensitivity In Situ Soot Particle Sensing in an Aero-Engine Exhaust Plume Using Long-Pulsed Fiber-Laser-Induced Incandescence

A method to produce spatially resolved images of the distribution of absorbing particles in the exhaust plume of a modified helicopter gas turbine engine is presented. Over a small region of the plume, in situ sensing of soot particles by laser-induced incandescence (LII) is demonstrated using fiber lasers with higher power (~10 W), longer pulse duration (>100 ns), and higher pulse repetition rates (>10 kHz) than the conventional LII. The sensitivity of the method is illustrated by the detection of ambient absorbing particles in background conditions with engine at rest. With a running engine, single-beam images are obtained in 0.01 s. The feasibility of using long-pulsed fiber lasers for soot particle concentration measurement is investigated using a representative laboratory system. The time-resolved LII behavior and the measurement linearity are investigated, demonstrating the suitability of using fiber lasers for soot particle measurement for aero-engine emissions. Results for normalized soot concentration are compared with extractive measurements illustrating good correlation across a range of engine speeds. This paper is the first step toward the development of a non-intrusive system for the measurement of 2-D soot concentration in the cross section of an aero-engine exhaust plume.