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Principles of
Phase Doppler Anemometry
Dantec Measurement Technology
http://www.dantecmt.com
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Contents
General Features
Optical principles
Light scattering considerations
Phase-diameter relationship
Sources of uncertainty
DualPDA technique
Application examples
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General features of PDA
Extension of the LDA principle
Simultaneous measurement of velocity (up to 3 components) and size of
spherical particles as well as mass flux, concentration etc.
First publication by Durst and Zar in 1975
First commercial instrument in 1984
Non-intrusive measurement (optical technique), on-line and in-situ
Absolute measurement technique (no calibration required)
Very high accuracy
Very high spatial resolution (small measurement volume)
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Preconditions for the application of PDA
Optical access to the measurement area (usually from two directions)
Sphericity of particles (droplets, bubbles, solids)
Homogeneity of particle medium
(slight inhomogeneities may be tolerated if the concentration of the
inhomogeneities is low and if the size of the inhomogeneities is much smaller
than the wavelength used)
Refractive indices of the particle and the continuous medium must
usually be known
Particle size between ca. 0.5 m and several millimeters
Max. particle number concentration is limited
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Principle setup of PDA
Optical parameters of a
PDA setup:
Beam intersection angle
Scattering angle
Elevation angle
Polarization
(parallel or perpendicular to
scattering plane)
Shape and size of detector
aperture
X
Y

Detector 1
Detector 2
Scattering plane
Flow
Z

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Optical principle of PDA
A particle scatters light from two
incident laser beams
Both scattered waves interfere in
space and create a beat signal
with a frequency which is
proportional to the velocity of the
particle
Two detectors receive this signal
with different phases
The phase shift between these
two signals is proportional to the
diameter of the particle
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D
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Light scattering principles
A lightwave is fully described by:
wavelength
intensity
polarization
phase
The principle of the PDA technique is the scattering of plane lightwaves by
spherical particles.
Scattering is composed of:
diffraction
reflection
refraction
absorption
An exact description of the scattering of light by a homogeneous sphere is
given by the full solution of Maxwells equations formulated by Mie in 1908.
Geometric optics (Snells law) is a simplified way to describe light scattering.
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Scattering modes
-2
1st order
refraction
-1
1
2
-2 -1 1 2
Incident ray
Reflection
2nd order
refraction
3rd order
4th order
5th order
6th order
7th order
8th order
n
p
n
m
n
p
> n
m
The intensity of the incident ray is
partly reflected and refracted.
The intensity ratio is given by the
Fresnel coefficients and depends
on the incident angle, polarization
and relative refractive index.
The scattering angle is given by
Snells law.
The phase is given by the optical
path length of the ray.
Most of the intensity is contained
in the first three scattering modes.
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Light scattering by droplets and bubbles
-2
-1
1
2
-2 -1 1 2
Water droplet in air Air bubble in water
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-2
-1
1
2
-2 -1 1 2
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Phase relationships
=

2
2 1

d
p
sin sin
( cos cos cos )
=

+ + +
2
2 1 1 2 1
2

d
n
n n
p
rel
rel rel
sin sin
( cos cos cos ) ( ( cos cos cos )
The phase shift between two detectors is:
For reflection:
For 1st order refraction:
No calibration constant is contained in these equations.
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Phase - diameter linearity
A linear relationship between measured phase difference and particle
diameter only exists, if the detector is positioned such that one light
scattering mode dominates.
5 10 15 20 25 30
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
Diameter (micron)
P
h
a
s
e
(
d
e
g
)
Air bubble in water
Water droplet in air
Scattering angle: 50
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Simultaneous detection
of different scattering
modes of comparable
intensity leads to non-
linearities in the phase-
diameter relationship.
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Intensity of scattered light
The scattered light
intensity from the
different scattering
modes varies at
different scattering
angles.
The scattering intensity
also depends on the
polarization orientation
of the incident light.
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
parallel
polarization
perpendicular
polarization
1st order
refraction
reflection
2nd order
refraction
Lorenz-Mie
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2 ambiguity in a two-detector system
The phase difference
increases with increasing
particle size.
Since phase is a modulo
2 function, it cannot
exceed 2, i.e. 360.
Therefore, if a particle has
a size that causes the
phase to go beyond a 2
jump, a two-detector PDA
cannot discriminate
between this size and a
much smaller particle.

3

3

3
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3-detector setup
Overcoming the 2 ambiguity
Increasing the measurable size range
Maintaining a high measurement resolution
d
max

1-2

1-3
360
0
d
d
meas.

1
-
2

1
-
3

Detector 1
Detector 3
Detector 2
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Dantec 57X40 FiberPDA
U
1
U
2 Front lens
Composite lens
Aperture plate
Measurement
volume
Multimode
fibres
Detector Unit
with PMTs.
U
3
Easy setup and alignment
Three receivers in one probe
Exchangeable aperture masks
Up to three velocity components
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Size range adaptation
For a given optical configuration, the distance between the receiving
apertures can be changed to adapt the size range.
This can be achieved by exchanging the aperture mask in the receiving
probe.
The Dantec FiberPDA has a set of three different masks:
A: small size range B: medium size range C: large size range
U1
U2
U3
A B C
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the diameter of the intersection volume
of the transmitting beams
the width of the projection of the slit
shaped spatial filter which is mounted in
front of the receiving fibers
The effective PDA measurement volume is much
smaller than the intersection volume of the
transmitting laser beams.
The effective size of the
measurement volume is
determined by:
Effective PDA measurement volume
U
1
U
2
U
3
Slit aperture
Projected slit
Intersection
volume
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Sources for measurement uncertainties
Oscillations in phase-diameter curve
Low SNR due to low intensity or extinction
Phase changes due to
- surface distortions
- inhomogeneous particles
- multiple scattering effects
Gaussian intensity profile in the measurement volume
Slit effect
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Trajectory effect / Gaussian beam effect
Depending on the trajectory of the particle, the detected scattered light
is dominated either by refraction or reflection. This is caused by the
Gaussian intensity profile across the measurement volume.
This effect becomes noticeable for large transparent particles
(d
p
> ca. 50% of meas. vol. diameter)
Y
Y
Z
Gaussian
Intensity
Projected slit
Intersection volume
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Slit effect
Due to the projection of the receiving slit aperture, the unwanted
scattering mode becomes dominating for particle trajectories at one
edge of the slit projection.
Y
Z
Projected slit
Intersection volume
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The DualPDA
Measurement errors due
to trajectory and slit
effects are eliminated.
Particularly optimized for
applications to sprays
with transparent droplets.
Enables improved
concentration and mass
flux measurements.
Provides the ability to
reject non-spherical
droplets.
X
Y
Z

U1
U2
V1
V2
Scattering
plane
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Components of the DualPDA
Planar PDA
X
Y
Z
Main Flow
Direction
Receiving
Apertures
Transmitting
Optics
(Beams are in
the y-z plane)

Transmitting
Optics
(Beams are in
the x-z plane)
X
Y
Z
Main Flow
Direction
Receiving
Apertures

Conventional PDA
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Configuration of the DualPDA
U1
U2
V1 V2
A
B
C
Transmitting
Optics (2-D)
X
Y
Z
Main Flow
Direction
Receiving
Apertures

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Comparison measurements
Measurement with a standard PDA
Measurement with a DualPDA
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Improved mass flux measurements
The DualPDA can
measure volume and
mass flux with better
accuracy.
This is confirmed by
comparing the
results from a
patternator and the
DualPDA.
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
-60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Posi ti on i n Spray Cone [mm]
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[
-
]
DualPDA
Patternator
pressure swirl atomizer
Traversing
direction
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Patternator tubes
D
u
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l
P
D
A
FiberFlow
85 mm
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Applications
Sprays and liquid atomization processes
- Water sprays
- Fuel-, diesel injection
- Paint coating
- Agricultural sprays
- Medical, pharmaceutical sprays
- Cosmetic sprays
Powder production
- Spray drying
- Liquid metal atomization
Bubble dynamics
- Cavitation
- Aeration
- Multiphase mass transfer
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Automotive Fuel Injection
Photo: AVL, Graz, Austria
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Nozzle Design
Photo: Gustav Schlick GmbH & Co., Untersiemau, Germany
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Aircraft Engine Fuel Injection
Photo: DLR, Institut fr Antriebstechnik, Kln, Germany