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NASA NTRS1981

Radio occultation of Jupiter's ring - Bounds on optical depth and particle size and a comparison with infrared and optical results

A comparison of Voyager 1 data of the Jovian ring at radio, infrared and optical wavelengths suggests a population density that either falls more rapidly than the inverse square of the linear size, or is sharply bounded in maximum particle size. A fragmentation power law is used to estimate a minimum particle radius of 1-2 microns, and a specific model is developed which consists of a power law distribution of lossless or slightly absorbent Mie scatterers with a refractive index near 1.62, a power law index of -3.5, and a minimum particle size of 1.5 microns. The maximum particle radius is not critical, provided that it is greater than 4 microns, and the power law polydispersion of lossless or low absorbent Mie scatterers is consistent with previously reported observations as long as the parameter size minimum is 20 and the power index is about -3.5.

Tyler, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Benzoic acid degradation of polyacrylonitrile fibers

The reactions of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers in the presence of benzoic acid have been studied. Polyacrylonitrile fibers oxidize more readily in the presence of benzoic acid than in air at temperatures in the range of 170 C. The product decreased in solubility with extent of reaction. Gel permeation chromatography of the soluble fraction showed change in polydispersity. The insoluble product exhibited differences in weight loss as a function of decomposition temperature compared to PAN fibers. Infrared analyses of the fiber product showed absorption peaks similar to air-oxidized PAN. High-energy photoelectron spectral analysis showed a carbon-rich surface which contained oxygen and nitrogen. An air oxidized sample of fiber contained more oxygen at the surface than a fiber treated first with benzoic acid and then air oxidized.

Varma, D. S.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Benzoic acid degradation of polyacrylonitrile fibers

Varma, D. S.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Formation of oxides of nitrogen in monodisperse spray combustion of hydrocarbon fuels

Experimental results of exit plane NO/NO(x) emissions from atmospheric monodisperse fuel spray combustion are presented. Six different hydrocarbon fuels were studied: isopropanol, n-propanol, n-octane, iso-octane, n-heptane and methanol. The results indicate an optimum droplet size for minimizing NO/NO(x) production for all of the test fuels. At the optimum droplet diameter, reductions in NO/NO(x) relative to the NO(x) occurred at droplet diameters of 55 and 48 microns respectively, as compared to a 50-micron droplet size for isopropanol. The occurrence of the minimum NO(x) point at different droplet diameters for the different fuels appears to be governed by the extent of prevaporization of the fuel in the spray, and is consistent with theoretical calculations based on each fuel's physical properties. Estimates are also given for the behavior of heavy fuels and of polydisperse fuel sprays in shifting the minimum NO(x) point compared to a monodisperse situation.

Nizami, A. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Ultrahigh molecular weight aromatic siloxane polymers

The condensation of a diol with a silane in toluene yields a silphenylene-siloxane polymer. The reaction of stiochiometric amounts of the diol and silane produced products with molecular weights in the range 2.0 - 6.0 x 10 to the 5th power. The molecular weight of the product was greatly increased by a multistep technique. The methodology for synthesis of high molecular weight polymers using a two step procedure was refined. Polymers with weight average molecular weights in excess of 1.0 x 10 to the 6th power produced by this method. Two more reactive silanes, bis(pyrrolidinyl)dimethylsilane and bis(gamma butyrolactam)dimethylsilane, are compared with the dimethyleminodimethylsilane in ability to advance the molecular weight of the prepolymer. The polymers produced are characterized by intrinsic viscosity in tetrahydrofuran. Weight and number average molecular weights and polydispersity are determined by gel permeation chromatography.

Ludwick, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The role of water in slip casting

Slips and casting are considered in terms of physical and colloidal chemistry. Casting slips are polydisperse suspensions of lyophobic particles in water, whose degree of coagulation is controlled by interaction of flocculating and deflocculating agents. Slip casting rate and viscosity are functions of temperature. Slip rheology and response to deflocculating agents varies significantly as the kinds and amounts of colloid modifiers change. Water is considered as a raw material. Various concepts of water/clay interactions and structures are discussed. Casting is a de-watering operation in which water moves from slip to cast to mold in response to a potential energy termed moisture stress. Drying is an evaporative process from a free water surface.

Mccauley, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Development of the phase/Doppler spray analyzer for liquid drop size and velocity characterizations

The present novel method for spray drop size and velocity measurement is analogous to a laser Doppler velocimeter, obtaining data from the spatial frequency of the interference fringe pattern produced by light scattering. Monodisperse droplet streams were used as a basic test of the theory, as well as of the susceptibility of the method to effects involved in actual application. Either beam intersection angle or detector spacing can be changed to achieve the same result. Polydispersed sprays were also measured.

Bachalo, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Research study of droplet sizing technology leading to the development of an advanced droplet sizing system

An instrument to measure the size and velocity of droplets was developed. The instrument uses one of two techniques, as appropriate. In the first technique two small laser beams of one color identify the center of a larger laser beam of a different color. This defines a region of almost uniform intensity where the light scattered by the individual droplets can be related to their size. The first technique uses the visibility of a Doppler burst and validates it against the peak intensity of the signal's pedestal. Results are presented for monodisperse, bimodal, trimodal, and polydisperse sprays produced by the Berglund-Liu droplet generator and a pressure nozzle. Size distributions of a given spray obtained using three different size ranges show excellent self-consistency in the overlapping region. Measurements of sprays of known characteristics exhibit errors in the order of 10%. The principles of operation and design criteria of the instrument are discussed in great detail.

Hess, C. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Spray characterization with a nonintrusive technique using absolute scattered light

A technique to measure the size and velocity of particles is discussed, and results are presented. In this technique two small laser beams of one color identify the center of a laser beam of a different color. This defines a region of almost uniform intensity where the light scattered by the individual particles can be related to their sizes. A variation of this technique that uses two polarizations of the same color of laser beam is also presented. Results are presented for monodisperse, bimodal, trimodal, and polydisperse sprays produced by the Berglund-Liu droplet generator and a pressure nozzle. Size distributions obtained at three different ranges for the same spray show excellent self-consistency in the overlapping regions. Measurements of a spray of known characteristics exhibit errors in the order of 10 percent.

Hess, C. F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Particle size distributions of several commonly used seeding aerosols

During the course of experimentation, no solid particle powder could be found which produced an aerosol with a narrow particle size distribution when fluidization was the only flow process used in producing the aerosol. The complication of adding particle size fractionation processes to the aerosol generation effort appears to be avoidable. In this regard, a simple sonic orifice is found to be effective in reducing the percentage of agglomerates in the several metal oxide powders tested. Marginally beneficial results are obtained for a 0.5/99.5 percent by weight mixture of the flow agent and metal oxide powder. However, agglomeration is observed to be enhanced when the flow agent percentage is increased to 5 percent. Liquid atomization using the Collison nebulizer as well as a version of the Laskin nozzle resulted in polydispersed aerosols with particle size distributions heavily weighted by the small particle end of the size spectrum. The aerosol particle size distributions produced by the vaporization/condensation seeder are closer to the ideal monodispersed aerosol than any of the other aerosols tested. In addition, this seeding approach affords a measure of control over particle size and particle production rate.

Crosswy, F. L.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Experiments with solid particle seeding

Kaoline, a hydrated aluminum silicate clay, is investigated as a seeding material for laser velocimetry. It is inexpensive but is polydispersed with some of the fineparticles being too large to follow wind tunnel flow and is in the form of nonspherical platelets having an aspect ratio of approximately 4/1. Gravity sedimentation experiments as a means of narrowing the fineparticle sizes distribution are being conducted. The fineparticle size distribution of Engelhard ASP 200 kaolin suspended in ethanol (0.00792 grams kaolin/ml ethanol) as received, after 24 hours gravity sedimentation and after 48 hours sedimentation, respectively is shown. A shearing atomizer is used to inject the fineparticles. Gravity sedimentation is carried out in an 800 ml pyrex beaker. Following gravity sedimentation, the top 3.5 inches are siphoned from the liquid, which has a column height of 4.5 inches. In a like manner, longer settling times will serve to further narrow the fineparticle distribution range. As successive sedimentations are effected, the number of fineparticles per unit volume of ethanol decreased markedly.

Nichols, C. E., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Real-time measurement of sodium chloride in individual aerosol particles by mass spectrometry

The method of particle analysis by mass spectrometry has been applied to the quantitative measurement of sodium chloride in individual particles on a real-time basis. Particles of known masses are individually introduced, in the form of a beam, into a miniature Knudsen cell oven (1600 K). The oven is fabricated from rhenium metal sheet (0.018 mm thick) and is situated in the ion source of a quadrupole mass spectrometer. A particle once inside the oven is trapped and completely volatilized; this overcomes the problem of partial volatilization due to particles bouncing from the filament surface. Individual particles are thermally volatilized and ionized inside the rhenium oven, and produce discrete sodium ion pulses whose intensities are measured with the quadrupole mass spectrometer. An ion pulse width of several milliseconds (4-12 ms) is found for particles in the mass range 1.3 x 10 to the -13th to 5.4 x 10 to the -11th g. The sodium ion intensity is found to be proportional to the particle mass to the 0.86-power. The intensity distribution for monodisperse aerosol particles possesses a geometric standard deviation of 1.09, showing that the method can be used for the determination of the mass distribution function with good resolution in a polydisperse aerosol.

Sinha, M. P.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Determination of cloud microphysical properties by laser backscattering and extinction measurements

The extinction and backscattering of 514 nm laser radiation in polydisperse water droplet clouds was studied in the laboratory. Three cloud size distributions with modal diameters of 0.02, 5.0, and 12.0 microns were investigated. The relationships between the cloud optical parameters (attentuation coefficient, sigma and volume backscattering coefficient, Beta (sub pi)) and the cloud water content, C, were measured for each size distribution. It was found that a linear relationship exists between sigma and C and between beta (sub pi) and C for cloud water content values up to 3gm/cubic m. The linear relationships obtained, however, have slopes which depend on the droplet size distribution. For a given water content both sigma and beta (sub pi) increase as the modal diameter decreases. The measured data are compared with existing theoretical analyses and discussed in terms of thie application to lidar measurements of atmospheric clouds. It is concluded that the empirical information obtained can serve as a basis for quantitative lidar measurements.

Dubinsky, R. N.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Methods for estimating the optical constants of atmospheric hazes based on complex optical measurements

The methods of multifrequency laser sounding (MLS) are the most effective remote methods for investigating the atmospheric aerosols, since it is possible to obtain complete information on aerosol microstructure and the effective methods for estimating the aerosol optical constants can be developed. The MLS data interpretation consists in the solution of the set of equations containing those of laser sounding and equations for polydispersed optical characteristics. As a rule, the laser sounding equation is written in the approximation of single scattering and the equations for optical characteristics are written assuming that the atmospheric aerosol is formed by spherical and homogeneous particles. To remove the indeterminacy of equations, the method of optical sounding of atmospheric aerosol, consisting in a joint use of a mutifrequency lidar and a spectral photometer in common geometrical scheme of the optical experiment was suggested. The method is used for investigating aerosols in the cases when absorption by particles is small and indicates the minimum necessary for interpretation of a series of measurements.

Zuev, V. E.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Application of computational fluid mechanics to atmospheric pollution problems

One of the most noticeable effects of air pollution on the properties of the atmosphere is the reduction in visibility. This paper reports the results of investigations of the fluid dynamical and microphysical processes involved in the formation of advection fog on aerosols from combustion-related pollutants, as condensation nuclei. The effects of a polydisperse aerosol distribution, on the condensation/nucleation processes which cause the reduction in visibility are studied. This study demonstrates how computational fluid mechanics and heat transfer modeling can be applied to simulate the life cycle of the atmosphereic pollution problems.

Hung, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Protein crystal nucleation kinetics using relative light-scattering techniques: Center director's discretionary fund

Light-scattering intensity measurements are a sensitive method for following changes in the hydrodynamic radius of particles in solution. The approach used in this report utilizes the light-scattering intensity ratios of a polydisperse to a monodisperse system. By numerically modeling the process, and fitting the model curves to the data, estimates have been obtained for the dimerization equilibrium constant, the dimer + dimer yields tetramer equilibrium constant, and the association rate constant for the dimerization process.

Pusey, Marc Lee↗

NASA NTRS1990

Bounds on the thermoelastic properties of suspensions of spheres

Results are presented on computations of three-point upper and lower bounds on the effective thermal expansion coefficient, the effective constant-pressure specific heat, and the effective constant-volume specific heat of statistically isotropic suspensions of mutually impenetrable spheres. The effect of polydispersivity in sphere size on the thermoelastic properties is investigated by considering the cases of both equisized and multisized spheres. For reasons of mathematical analogy, the results obtained for the effective thermal expansion coefficient translate immediately into equivalent results for the hygroscopic expansion coefficient.

Torquato, S.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The development of a 3-D laser velocimeter for the NASA Langley low turbulence pressure wind tunnel

The design of an orthogonal, three-dimensional laser velocimeter with in situ sizing (LVIS) system for a high-Reynolds-number facility, the NASA Langley low turbulence pressure wind tunnel (LTPT), is discussed. Special attention is paid to the laser velocimeter seeding subsystems, while all other subsystems are approached from the users standpoint. The evaluation of the LVIS system leads to the conclusion that seeding of large scale pressure wind tunnels remains a problem, while using the polydispersed seeding requires further investigation. A Cassegrain mirror receiver optics may be successfully implemented in lieu of similar lens systems. General agreement is observed between the mean velocity LVIS measurements as compared to conventional pitot and hot-wire data.

Jones, Gregory S.↗