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Hanson, Ronald K.

Publications and source records attributed to Hanson, Ronald K..

16 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Monitoring Temperature in High Enthalpy Arc-heated Plasma Flows using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

A tunable diode laser sensor was designed for in situ monitoring of temperature in the arc heater of the NASA Ames IHF arcjet facility (60 MW). An external cavity diode laser was used to generate light at 777.2 nm and laser absorption used to monitor the population of electronically excited oxygen atoms in an air plasma flow. Under the assumption of thermochemical equilibrium, time-resolved temperature measurements were obtained on four lines-of-sight, which enabled evaluation of the temperature uniformity in the plasma column for different arcjet operating conditions.

Martin, Marcel Nations↗
NASA NTRS2011

Supersonic Mass Flux Measurements via Tunable Diode Laser Absorption and Non-Uniform Flow Modeling

Measurements of mass flux are obtained in a vitiated supersonic ground test facility using a sensor based on line-of-sight (LOS) diode laser absorption of water vapor. Mass flux is determined from the product of measured velocity and density. The relative Doppler shift of an absorption transition for beams directed upstream and downstream in the flow is used to measure velocity. Temperature is determined from the ratio of absorption signals of two transitions (lambda(sub 1)=1349 nm and lambda(sub 2)=1341.5 nm) and is coupled with a facility pressure measurement to obtain density. The sensor exploits wavelength-modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection (WMS-2f) for large signal-to-noise ratios and normalization with the 1f signal for rejection of non-absorption related transmission fluctuations. The sensor line-of-sight is translated both vertically and horizontally across the test section for spatially-resolved measurements. Time-resolved measurements of mass flux are used to assess the stability of flow conditions produced by the facility. Measurements of mass flux are within 1.5% of the value obtained using a facility predictive code. The distortion of the WMS lineshape caused by boundary layers along the laser line-of-sight is examined and the subsequent effect on the measured velocity is discussed. A method for correcting measured velocities for flow non-uniformities is introduced and application of this correction brings measured velocities within 4 m/s of the predicted value in a 1630 m/s flow.

Chang, Leyen S.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Diode Laser Sensors for Arc-Jet Characterization

The development and application of tunable diode laser (TDL) absorption sensors to monitor the health and operating conditions in the large-scale 60 MW arc-heated- plasma wind-tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center is reported. The interactive heating facility (THF) produces re-entry flow conditions by expanding the gas heated in a constricted plasma arc-heater to flow at high velocity over a model located in a test cabin. This facility provides the conditions needed to test thermal protective systems for spacecraft re-entering the earth s atmosphere. TDL sensors are developed to monitor gas flows in both the high-temperature constricted flow and the supersonic expansion flow into test cabin. These sensors utilize wavelength-tuned diode lasers to measure absorption transitions of atomic oxygen near 777.2 nm, atomic nitrogen near 856.8 nm, and atomic copper near 793.3 nm. The oxygen and nitrogen sensors measure the population density in exited electronic states of these atoms. The measurements combined with the assumption of local thermal and chemical equilibrium yield gas temperature (typically near 7,000K). The nitrogen and oxygen population temperatures are redundant, and their close agreement provides an important test of the local thermal equilibrium assumption. These temperature sensors provide time-resolved monitors of the operating conditions of the arc-heater and can be used to verify and control the test conditions. An additional TDL sensor was developed to monitor the copper concentration in the arc-heater flow yielding values as high as 13 ppm. Measurements of copper in the flow can identify flow conditions with unacceptably rapid electrode erosion, and hence this sensor provides valuable information needed to schedule maintenance to avoid costly arc-heater failure. TDL sensors were also developed for measurements in the test cabin, where absorption measurements of the populations of argon and molecular nitrogen in excited metastable electronic states established that the number density of these excited species is much lower than estimated using frozen-chemistry approximations. This key finding suggests that in the post-expansion region there is not a significant energy sequestration in electronically excited species. Finally, TDL measurements of atomic potassium seeded into the test cabin flow were used to directly measure the static temperature of the test gas. The results of this study illustrate the high potential of time-resolved TDL measurements for routine and economical sensing of arc-heater health (gas temperature and electrode erosion) as well as the time-resolved test-cabin-flow conditions in front of the model.

Hanson, Ronald K.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Compact Laser-Based Sensors for Monitoring and Control of Gas Turbine Combustors

Research is reported on the development of sensors for gas turbine combustor applications that measure real-time gas temperature using near-infrared water vapor absorption and concentration in the combustor exhaust of trace quantities of pollutant NO and CO using mid-infrared absorption. Gas temperature is extracted from the relative absorption strength of two near-infrared transitions of water vapor. From a survey of the water vapor absorption spectrum, two overtone transitions near 1800 nm were selected that can be rapidly scanned in wavelength by injection current tuning a single DFB diode laser. From the ratio of the absorbances on these selected transitions, a path-integrated gas temperature can be extracted in near-real time. Demonstration measurements with this new temperature sensor showed that combustor instabilities could be identified in the power spectrum of the temperature versus time record. These results suggest that this strategy is extremely promising for gas turbine combustor control applications. Measurements of the concentration of NO and CO in the combustor exhaust are demonstrated with mid-infrared transitions using thermo-electrically cooled, quantum cascade lasers operating near 5.26 and 4.62 microns respectively. Measurements of NO are performed in an insulated exhaust duct of a C2H4-air flame at temperatures of approximately 600 K. CO measurements are performed above a rich H2-air flame seeded with CO2 and cooled with excess N2 to 1150 K. Using a balanced ratiometric detection technique a sensitivity of 0.36 ppm-m was achieved for NO and 0.21 ppm-m for CO. Comparisons between measured and predicted water-vapor and CO2 interference are discussed. The mid-infrared laser quantum cascade laser technology is in its infancy; however, these measurements demonstrate the potential for pollutant monitoring in exhaust gases with mid-IR laser absorption.

Hanson, Ronald K.↗
NASA NTRS1996

AST Combustion Workshop: Diagnostics Working Group Report

A workshop was convened under NASA's Advanced Subsonics Technologies (AST) Program. Many of the principal combustion diagnosticians from industry, academia, and government laboratories were assembled in the Diagnostics/Testing Subsection of this workshop to discuss the requirements and obstacles to the successful implementation of advanced diagnostic techniques to the test environment of the proposed AST combustor. The participants, who represented the major relevant areas of advanced diagnostic methods currently applied to combustion and related fields, first established the anticipated AST combustor flowfield conditions. Critical flow parameters were then examined and prioritized as to their importance to combustor/fuel injector design and manufacture, environmental concerns, and computational interests. Diagnostic techniques were then evaluated in terms of current status, merits and obstacles for each flow parameter. All evaluations are presented in tabular form and recommendations are made on the best-suited diagnostic method to implement for each flow parameter in order of applicability and intrinsic value.

Locke, Randy J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Continuous wave dye-laser technique for simultaneous, spatially resolved measurements of temperature, pressure, and velocity of NO in an underexpanded free jet

Gas dynamic quantities within an underexpanded nitrogen free jet, seeded with 0.5 percent NO, were measured nonintrusively by using an intracavity-doubled, rapid-tuning, CW ring dye laser. The UV beam passed obliquely through the jet axis, and its frequency repetitively scanned across adjacent rotational lines in the NO gamma band near 225 nm at a rate of 4 kHz. Spatially resolved excitation scans were obtained by monitoring the induced broadband fluoresence. Modeling the Doppler-shifted excitation scans with Voigt profiles permitted simultaneous determinations of NO velocity, rotational temperature, and pressure. Zero Doppler shift was referenced to an absorption trace obtained across a static cell and recorded concurrently with the excitation scan. Typically, the measured and predicted axial distributions agreed within 10 percent. At high Mach numbers there was evidence of rotational freezing of NO.

Di Rosa, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Plume characteristics of an arcjet thruster

An experimental investigation is conducted of the plume of a 1.5 kW hydrogen-fueled arcjet thruster. The velocity and translational temperature are measured by laser induced fluorescence of excited-state atomic hydrogen at a variety of locations and operating conditions. The peak velocity and temperature at the center of the exit plane of 14.7 km/s and 5000 K lead to a Mach number of 1.9. Evidence is presented which demonstrates the extent to which viscous forces dominate the flow, such as the exit plane Reynolds number of 18. Data taken in the plume suggest a transition from supersonic to subsonic flow via viscous dissipation. In addition, the results suggest that high tank pressures (0.4 to 1.5 Torr) limit the ability to simulate space environments for different portions of the plume.

Liebeskind, John G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Spectroscopy-based thrust sensor for high-speed gaseous flows

A system and method for non-intrusively obtaining the thrust value of combustion by-products of a jet engine is disclosed herein. The system includes laser elements for inducing absorption for use in determining the axial velocity and density of the jet flow stream and elements for calculating the thrust value therefrom.

Hanson, Ronald K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Shedding new light on gas dynamics

Modern laser-spectroscopic techniques usually incorporate one or more laser beams and depend on their radiative interaction with some spectroscopic feature of the gas. Attention is given to laser absorption, laser-induced fluorescence, Rayleigh scattering, and Raman scattering. Consideration is given to UV Rayleigh scattering applied to aerodynamic flows to obtain images of a supersonic boundary layer that show instantaneous turbulent structures at a level of detail not achieved by any other practical method.

Mckenzie, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Planar laser-induced fluorescence measurements of high-enthalpy free jet flow with nitric oxide

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of property fields in a high-enthalpy, supersonic, underexpanded free jet generated in a reflection-type shock tunnel are reported. PLIF images showing velocity and temperature sensitivity are presented. The inferred radial velocity and relative rotational temperature fields are found to be in agreement with those predicted by a numerical simulation of the flowfield using the method of characteristics.

Palmer, Jennifer L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Flow diagnostics of an arcjet using laser-induced fluorescence

A diagnostic has been developed to measure velocity and translational temperature in the plume of an arcjet thruster. Laser induced fluorescence with a narrowband CW laser is used to probe the Balmer alpha transition of excited atomic hydrogen. The velocity is determined from the Doppler shift of the fluorescence excitation spectrum while temperature is inferred from its shape. Analysis shows that while Doppler broadening is the only significant broadening mechanism, the fine structure of the transition must be accounted for. Near the exit plane, axial velocities vary from 4 to 14 km/s; radial velocities vary from 0 to 4 km/s; and swirl velocities are shown to be relatively small. Temperatures from 1000 to 5000 K indicate high dissociation fractions.

Liebeskind, John G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Laser-induced fluorescence of atomic hydrogen in an arcjet thruster

A diagnostic has been developed to measure gas kinetic temperature and velocity in a 1 kW hydrogen fueled arcjet thruster. The technique is based on laser-induced fluorescence of the Balmer alpha transition (656 nm) in atomic hydrogen. A narrowband CW ring dye laser scans the excitation spectrum, permitting accurate determination of the atomic line shape and position. The velocity is inferred from the Doppler shift of the transition while the temperature is obtained from the shape. Near the exit plane, measured axial velocity varies between 4 and 14 km/s; measured radial velocity varies from 0 to 4 km/s. Temperatures were measured in the range from 1000 K near the edge of the plume to 5000 K at the centerline. Relevant broadening mechanisms are discussed.

Liebeskind, John G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Rapid tuning CW laser technique for measurements of gas velocity, temperature, pressure, density, and mass flux using NO

An intracavity-doubled rapid-tuning CW ring dye laser was used to acquire fully resolved absorption profiles of NO line pairs in the A-X band at 225 nm at a rate of 4 kHz. These profiles were utilized for simultaneous measurements of flow parameters in the high-speed 1D flows generated in a shock tube. Velocity was determined from the Doppler shift, measured using a pair of profiles simultaneously acquired at different angles with respect to the flow direction. Temperature was determined from the intensity ratio of the adjacent lines. Pressure and density were found both from the collisional broadening and the fractional absorption. From this information the mass flux was determined. The results compare well to 1D shock calculations.

Chang, Albert Y.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Continuous wave laser absorption techniques for gasdynamic measurements in supersonic flows

Line-of-sight measurements of velocity, temperature, pressure, density, and mass flux were performed in a transient shock tube flow using three laser absorption schemes. All methods employed an intracavity-doubled ring dye laser tuned to an OH transition at 306 nm. In the first scheme, the gas was labeled by 193.3-nm excimer photolysis of H2O, and the passage of the generated OH was detected downstream. In the second method, the laser was tuned at a rate of 3 kHz over the R1(7) and R1(11) line pair, and absorption was simultaneously monitored at 90 and 60 deg with respect to the flow. Velocity was determined from the Doppler shift of the profiles and the temperature from the intensity ratio of the lines. Pressure was determined from both the magnitude of absorption and the collisional broadening. In the third method, the laser wavelength was fixed at a single frequency, and a continuous measurement of velocity and pressure was obtained using the signals from the two beam paths. All methods gave results which compare favorably to calculated values.

Davidson, David F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Velocity measurements in a hydrogen arcjet using LIF

A new diagnostic developed to measure the axial velocity of atomic hydrogen in a 1-kW hydrogen-fueled arcjet thruster is reported. The technique is based on laser-induced fluorescence of the Balmer alpha transition (656 nm) in atomic hydrogen. A narrow-band CW ring dye laser scans the excitation spectrum permitting accurate determination of the absorption line shape and position. The velocity is derived from the Doppler-shifted line position. A spatially resolved velocity profile is presented with a peak velocity of 12.8 km/s at the arcjet centerline near the exit plane.

Liebeskind, John G.↗