Advanced Diagnostic Measurements for High-Pressure Combustion Experiments

with Robert Lucht,
Ralph & Bettye Bailey Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
Director of Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories
Purdue University

April 18, 2025 – 2:30 PM
190 Goodwin Hall​

The use of advanced diagnostic methods for measurements in high-pressure combustion experiments is discussed for three different experiments. We have used 5 kHz, single-laser-shot chirped-probe-pulse (CPP) femtosecond (fs) coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) to perform temperature measurements in a hydrogen/oxygen rocket chamber with a co-annular injector. The measurements were very challenging due to the short time duration, on the order of one second, of the experiment, and the effect of the windows on the femtosecond laser beams. In addition, probing the hydrogen molecule to perform temperature measurements presented issues not encountered previously with nitrogen CPP fs CARS. We are performing experiments on the combustion of mixtures of ammonia, hydrogen, and natural gas for stationary power-generating gas turbines. The mixtures are produced using a multitube micromixer (M3) injector. The design of the M3 injector and the operation of the experiment is discussed. The flame structure is probed using 100 kHz OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging, revealing significant differences in flame structure and dynamics for the different fuel mixtures. Finally, we are investigating the effects of fuel heating in a high-pressure aviation gas turbine combustor with a lean primary zone. The flame structure and dynamics and the pollutant emissions are investigated for both sustainable aviation fuels and for petroleum-based fuels (Jet A).

Robert P. Lucht is the Ralph and Bettye Bailey Distinguished Professor of Combustion in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University and the Director of the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories. His present research activities include fundamental experimental and theoretical studies of femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), polarization spectroscopy. His group has applied dual-pump CARS and other laser diagnostic methods for measurements in combustion systems ranging from laboratory flames to gas turbine combustion test rigs. He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles in archival journals, and advised or co-advised over 40 PhD students. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Combustion Institute, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In 2008 he received the AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Award and in 2025 he received the AIAA Propellants and Combustion Award. In 2013 he received the Faculty Excellence in Research Award from the College of Engineering at Purdue University, in 2022 he was named an Outstanding Mechanical Engineer by Purdue University.