Long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras provide the unique ability to see through smoke and condensed water vapor. However, soot generated inside the flame does attenuate the LWIR signal. This work focuses on gas flame attenuation effects of LWIR signals originating from a blackbody. The experimental setup consists of time averaged, laboratory-scale turbulent diffusion flames with heat release rates set at 5 kW, 10 kW, and 15 kW. Propylene and ethylene were used as fuel, providing two different soot yields. A 30 cm by 30 cm blackbody was used with maximum surface temperatures set to 600°C. Both instantaneous and time-averaged blackbody temperature profiles through the flame were measured using a LWIR microbolometer camera (7.5–14 μm). Flame intermittency was quantified by color segmenting visible images. The experiments showed that low blackbody temperatures were significantly affected by the presence of the flame. At 600°C, the effect of flame absorption matches the emitted radiation from the flame itself. Using data obtained at various blackbody temperatures, the flame transmittance was obtained using a Generalized Reduced Gradient optimization method. The transmittance was lower for propylene flames compared to ethylene flames. Ethylene flames were shown to have higher temperatures. Using the values for flame radiance and transmissivity, the total averaged radiance of the flame plus the blackbody could be reproduced with 1% accuracy.

Date Published: 11 May 2016
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 9861, Thermosense: Thermal Infrared Applications XXXVIII, 98610U (11 May 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2225026

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9861:
Thermosense: Thermal Infrared Applications XXXVIII
Joseph N. Zalameda; Paolo Bison, Editor(s)