A scanning optical densitometer using deconvolution to measure soot concentrations in axisymmetric flames

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Abstract
Describes a sensitive dual-beam densitometer for measurement of soot concentrations in axisymmetric diffusion flames. The densitometer was designed to avoid interference from flame luminosity or schlieren effects, and had a noise level of 10-4 transmission. The flame being studied was traversed under automatic control through one light beam of the densitometer. This gave a set of absorption profiles at various heights above the burner. The local absorption coefficients (and hence soot concentrations) were then calculated by the deconvolution technique. The time taken to scan a complete flame, with soot measurements at about 150 points, was about 45 minutes. The authors discuss possible errors in the deconvolution process and give examples of typical soot concentration profiles. Possible improvements to the apparatus are also suggested.

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