Three-dimensional combined pyrometric sizing and velocimetry of combusting coal particles. II: Pyrometry

Appl Opt. 2015 May 20;54(15):4916-26. doi: 10.1364/AO.54.004916.

Abstract

Knowledge of the in situ temperature, size, velocity, and number density of a population of burning coal particles yields insight into the chemical and aerodynamic behavior of a pulverized coal flame (e.g., through means of combustion model validation). Sophisticated and reasonably accurate methods are available for the simultaneous measurement of particle velocity and temperature; however, these methods typically produce single particle measurements in small analyzed volumes and require extensive instrumentation. We present a simple, inexpensive method for the simultaneous, in situ, three-dimensional (3D) measurement of particle velocity, number density, size, and temperature. The proposed method uses a combination of stereo imaging, 3D reconstruction, multicolor pyrometry, and digital image processing techniques. The details of theoretical and algorithmic backgrounds are presented, along with examples and validation experiments. Rigorous uncertainty quantification was performed using numerical simulations to estimate the accuracy of the method and explore how different parameters affect measurement uncertainty. This paper, Part II of two parts that discuss this method [Appl. Opt.54, 4049 (2015)], describes particle temperature and size measurement in overexposed emission images.