COMBUSTING-FLOW DIAGNOSTICS
by Professor M.V. Heitor, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa (Portugal)
The book under review (NATO ASI SERIES E207) consists of papers prepared for and presented at a NATO sponsored Advanced Study Institute which was held in Montechoro, Portugal during the period 16-27 April, 1990. This Institute was attended by approximately ninety delegates from fifteen countries and followed from a related Institute held in Vimeiro, Portugal in 1987 (see the book entitled `Instrumentation for Combustion and Flow in Engines', edited by D.F.G. Durao, J.H. Whitelaw and P.O. Witze). The purpose of the first Institute related closely to instrumentation for use in gas- turbine combustors and the cylinders of internal-combustion engines. These topics were also addressed in the second Institute, though in a manner which was wider-ranging and chosen to demonstrate and explain the development and application of measurement methods to combusting flows in general.
The papers contained in this book were selected to provide the reader with a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the variety of experimental techniques available to measure in combusting flows. Included are discussions of their range and applicability, potential accuracy and ease of use. Thus, the first paper provides a brief overview and the second an indication of those aspects of combustion which should influence the choice of flow property to be measured and the technique to be used. The third paper demonstrates the use of visualization techniques to improve knowledge of reacting flows and the emphasis of the following four papers is on the measurement of scalar properties, since it is generally accepted that velocity characteristics are measurable with probes and with laser-Doppler velocimetry. The topics of these four papers encompass probe measurements, fluorescence, advanced forms of CARS and the combination of laser velocimetry with probe and optical techniques for scalar flux measurements. The next two papers (i.e., 8 and 9) review available techniques for two-phase flows with emphasis on those methods which combine the capabilities of laser-Doppler velocimetry with particle sizing. Paper 10 considers the particular application of steady sprays. Papers 11 and 12 describe current multi- dimensional techniques for quantitative flow measurements and provide a comprehensive impression of modern methods for flows with combustion. These last ten papers describe measurement techniques which are applicable in the laboratory and may be, or developed to be, applicable in industrial environments.
Papers 13 to 15 describe applications to the solution of problems of gas- turbine combustors and follow from the considerations of the Vimeiro Institute. The problems of the engine are considered from an industrial standpoint, with attention given to the constraints imposed by cost and scale. Recent measurements in laboratory-scale combustors are reviewed and the advantages of CARS for temperature and species-concentration measurements are discussed.
Some aspects of measurement techniques for sinternal-combustion engines are addressed in papers 16 to 21, which have been provided by authors involved in European and United States research programmes concerned with the improvement of understanding of the flows in engines and their representation by multidimensional computational techniques. Three papers are concerned with Diesel engines and the other three deal with homogeneous charge engines.
Finally, the last three papers describe complex applications other than those of gas turbines and internal-combustion engines, and are relevant to explosions, microparticles and the conditions external to an aircraft in flight.
Reference books: E137, E140, E154, E207