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Advanced 3D Emission Tomography Flame Temperature

Sensor
a a a
D.P. CORREIA , P. FERRÃO & A. CALDEIRA-PIRES
a
Instituto Superior Técnico Mechanical Engineering Department , Applied Thermodynamics
Section Av. Rovisco Pais , Lisbon, 1049 - 001, Portugal
Published online: 06 Apr 2007.

To cite this article: D.P. CORREIA , P. FERRÃO & A. CALDEIRA-PIRES (2001) Advanced 3D Emission Tomography Flame
Temperature Sensor, Combustion Science and Technology, 163:1, 1-24, DOI: 10.1080/00102200108952149

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Advanced 3D Emission Tomography

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Flame Temperature Sensor

D.P. CORREIA, P. FERRAo' and A. CALDEIRA-PIRES

Instituto Superior Tecnico Mechanical Engineering Department, Applied

Thermodynamics Section All. Roviseo Pais, 1049 - 001 Lisbon, Portugal

(Received November 22, 1999; In linal form june 8,2000)

An optical diagnostic technique for measuring 3D temperature distributions in a flame, making use of
new emission tomography reconstruction algorithms, is presented. The new approach aims to over-
come the limitations of previous applications of emission tomography to flames, which did not con-
sider radiation absorption inside the flame, mainly because reconstruction algorithms used did not
allow for the inclusion of an absorption correction term, and this constituted a major limitation to the
accuracy of the technique. In this paper an experimental set-up, together with dedicated tomographic
reconstruction algorithms that include a flame radiation absorption model, is developed and tested in
non-premixed laboratorial flames. The results indicate that it is possible to reconstruct the 3D-tem-
perature fields of either axissyrnrnetric or non-axissymrnetric flames, with uncertainties below ±IO%,
provided that soot is available.

Keywords: Combustion Diagnostics; Temperature; Tomography; Emission; Absorption Correction

INTRODUCTION

The progress of combustion science has been associated with the availability of
relevant experimental data, including the distribution of scalar properties in
tlames. In the past, probe techniques were used for time resolved point measure-
ments, and during the last decade, different non-intrusive laser diagnostics have
progressively been used for the same purpose, as discussed by Ferrao and Heitor
(1998-1) and (1998-2).
The experimental characterisation of a tlame scalar field making use of point
measurement techniques constitutes a time consuming process and this consti-
tutes a serious limitation for tlame diagnostics and control in industrial combus-
tion systems, which adequate 2D/3D techniques can overcome.
* ferrao@dem.isLutl.pt
 2 D.P. CORREIA et a/.

In particular, optical sensors can be used to quantify monochromatic flame

radiation and tomographic reconstruction can provide the basis for expanding
combustion diagnostics to 30 scalar field measurements, if combined with an
adequate formulation of the main flame characteristics. The increasing availabil-
ity of low-cost high spatial resolution CCO cameras and data processing systems
constitutes an additional incentive for the application of these techniques to
flames with practical relevance.
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Tomographic systems can be based on transmission or emission techniques.

Transmission techniques have been widely used in combustion studies, as for
example by Ray and Semerjian (1984), Hall and Bonczyk (1990), Burkhardt and
Stoll (1995) or van den Bercken (1998), but the need for a background radiation
source precludes its application in confined non-laboratorial systems, namely
due to limited access for complex arrangements of radiation sources and detec-
tors.
Emission tomography presents the basic advantage that it avoids the need for a
background radiation source, broadening its field of application if some current
limitations associated with the technique are minimised. Several studies have
been developed in the last decade, in order to obtain measures of scalar fields, in
different types of flame, both confined and unconfined. Most of these techniques
have been applied on the measurement of the local flame temperature fields, as
in Fischer (1992), Sivathanu et al. (1995) or Leipertz et al. (1996). However,
Hertz and Faris (1988), Sivathanu et al. (1995) and Leipertz et al. (1996) sug-
gested its use for the characterisation of the emissions and concentrations of rad-
icals, composites or particles in the interior of the flame. Other applications were
developed for the sole purpose of obtaining qualitative measurements in order to
identify the flame shape or the evolution of the flame position, as done by Phil-
lipp et al. (1995) and Natterer (1993).
The work by Hertz and Faris (1988) was aimed at characterising flame fronts
and made use of emissions of the CH radical from a non-premixed methane/oxy-
gen flame and a Bunsen burner propane/air flame.
Fischer (1992) applied a tomographic reconstruction technique aimed at char-
acterising the local temperature fields in simple axissymmetric flames and made
use of a 3-CCO camera for simultaneous acquisition of three flame images, on
different wavelength ranges. The major drawback on this procedure was that
radiation extinction (absorption + scattering) inside the flame was not consid-
ered.
The work by Sivathanu et al. (1995) involved the characterisation of soot tem-
perature and volume fraction fields in a non-premixed flame of ethylene and air.
Flame-emitted radiation was collected at two wavelengths (900 and 1000 nm)
and an "onion-peeling" type algorithm was used for tomographic reconstruction,
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 3

allowing to obtain probability density functions of temperature and volume frac-

tion of SOOI. The measurements provided lower temperatures than those obtained
with a suction pyrometer data. Again, radiation extinction inside the flame was
not considered.
The work of Leipertz et al. (1996) is an extension of the use of tomographic
emission techniques for application in industrial combustion chambers. The sys-
tem involves the simultaneous acquisition of spectral information in a wide range
of wavelengths, but the tomographic reconstruction did not involve any compen-
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sation of radiation extinction inside of the flame.

Kendrick et al. (1999) applied a reconstruction procedure based on the inverse
Abel transform to the OH emission of cryogenic flames of liquid oxygen and
gaseous hydrogen. As discussed above, previous applications of emission tom-
ography to flames did not consider radiation extinction inside the flame, mainly
because reconstruction algorithms used did not allow for the inclusion of an
absorption correction term and this constituted a major limitation to the accuracy
of the technique.
The approach adopted in this paper consisted in developing dedicated tomo-
graphic reconstruction algorithms that included a flame radiation absorption
model. This approach, which can be used in different flame diagnostics, such as
temperature measurements and concentrations of particles, radicals or molecules,
was tested for temperature diagnostics on a non-premixed propane flame.
The paper is organised in four sections including the present introduction. The
next section discusses the development of tomographic reconstruction algo-
rithms provided with radiation absorption models, for axissymmetric and
non-symmetric flames. The experimental validation of the new technique as a
flame temperature sensor is discussed on the third section. The main conclusions
of the paper are reported on the final section.

TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHMS:

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION

Tomographic reconstruction of local flame scalar properties is based on the

deconvolution of a finite number of two-dimensional path integrated measure-
ments of radiative flame intensity. In the work presented in this paper, tomo-
graphic reconstruction is performed on monochromatic radiation data acquired
making use of dedicated optical detectors. For a typical flame, schematically
illustrated in Figure I, the projection acquired by the detector integrates the radi-
ation emitted by flame radicals, solid particles or molecules, along a given opti-
cal path.
 4 D.P. CORREIA et al.
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Flame
(Object)
Data In~~_r::tion~
(op/

FIGURE I Schematic view of the radiation path associated with flame image collection and tomo-
graphic reconstruction

As mentioned by Bohren and Huffman (1983), if scattering effects within the

flame are neglected, the spectral absorptivity by each chemical specie in the gas,
u"A.(D, depends on the characteristics of the absorbing particles, namely on the
extinction coefficient, Ke"A. and on the optical path length, L. As stated by Koylu
and Faeth (1996), this dependence can be modelled for monochromatic radiation
by the Beer-Lambert law:

a>,(T) = 1- exp(-Ke>,.L) (1)

The new reconstruction algorithms presented in this paper deconvolve the

retrieved projection data into each of the elements of a spatial grid that contains
the object, including a correction term for the absorbed radiation along the opti-
cal path.
Two algorithms were developed and optimised for the analysis of symmetric
and non-symmetric flames. The algorithms were designed to minimise recon-
struction uncertainties, to filter noise on the projection data, to be coupled with
the radiation absorption model and to reconstruct non-symmetric objects with
few, non-evenly spaced projections.
The development of the algorithms is described in the next subsections, with
special focus on the inclusion of the absorption correction terms on the algo-
rithm's equations.
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 5

TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHM

FOR AXISSYMMETRIC FLAMES

The Radon Transform, R[FJ, Radon (1917), provides the mathematical basis that
allows the reconstruction of an original property distribution, F, based on a set of

I:
one or more projections, represented by the function P in the following equation.

P = R[F] {==} P(p,,p) = F(p.cos(¢) - s.sin(¢),p.sin(,p) + s.cos(,p))us

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(2)
For the specific case of an axissymmetric object, F(x, y) = F(r) and
P(P,¢) = P(P), and therefore the Radon integral equation can be developed into
the Abel integral equation:

P(p) = 2./'00 ,jr2

p
7·.F(r). dr = A[F](p)
_ p2
(3)

where A[F](p) is the Abel Transform operator.

The main advantage of assuming axissymmetric geometry and using an Abel
transform based algorithm is that a single projection of the object can provide
data for its reconstruction and, as a consequence, a significant reduction of com-
putation effort as well as a considerable economy on experimental apparatus is
achieved.
Since the purpose of tomographic reconstruction is to obtain F(x, y) from
P(P,¢), and, in particular, to obtain F(r) from P(P), for an axissymmetric object,
the integral equation to be used in this procedure consists on the Inverse Abel
Integral Equation, which can be represented in the form:

F(r)=_~jOOUP(p) 1 dp (4)
'If r- up ,jp2 - r 2
The inverse of Abel's transform is the basic reconstruction formula for axis-
symmetric objects and various methods for implementing numerical solutions
for this equation are suggested in the literature. A review of these solutions is
presented by Tourin (1966).
The main problem associated with these methods consists on the fact that the
inclusion of a radiation extinction correction term is not possible, due to the
non-linearity of the absorption exponential term (Equation I). Here, this limita-
tion has been overcome by using a numerical interpretation of the reconstruction
procedure, degenerating on a method similar to an Algebraic Reconstruction
Technique (ART), described by Hounsfield (1972) or Gordon et al. (1970). This
method has the additional advantage of minimizing the errors associated to the
inversion of Abel's transform along the axis of symmetry.
 6 D.P. CORREIA et al.

An axissymmetric flame can be modelled as being composed of a set of layers,

within which all scalar properties are constant, as represented in Figure 2. While
crossing the flame, the emitted radiation is assumed to be attenuated by absorp-
tion. Neglecting scattering effects, each detector element will retrieve radiation
emitted and attenuated on a given optical path, which is assumed to be parallel
and only dependent on geometrical parameters. For axissymmetric unconfined
systems, the integrated intensity values detected by each element of the image
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collection system, Pj' are a function of the local intensities in the flame, F j , and
the area coefficients, A jj , Also, as quantified in Equation 1, the exponential decay
of radiation intensity is a function of an attenuation length in each layer of the
flame, Lij' and of a local absorption coefficient, Kj , as illustrated in Figure 2.
The use of the method for the general flame represented in Figure 2, results in
the following expressions that quantify the intensity that reaches projection ele-
ments R, R-l and R-2:
PR == FRAR,R
P n- 1 == FRAR.R-lexp(-KR-1LR-l,R-l - KRLR,R-Jl+
FR-1AR-1,R-l exp( -KRLR,R-l)+
FnAR,R-l (5)
PR- 2 == F RA R,R_2 ex P( -KR- 1L R- 1,R-2 - K R- 2L R- 2,R-2
- KR- 1L R- 1,R-2 - K RL R,R-2)+
FR-IAR-l,R-2exp(-](R-2LR-2,R-2 - KR- 1L R- 1,R-2
- K RL n,R-2)+
FR-2AR-2,R-2exp(-](R-ILR-l,R-2 - KRL R,R-2))+
FR-IAR-l,R-2exp( -KRLR,R-2)+
F RAR,R-2
Solving these equations for F, and reorgamsmg the terms, the following
expression is obtained (in tensor notation) for the reconstruction of confined
symmetrical combustion systems:
F i ==

l'i-FRARi- i:
]=i+1
Fj.4ji eXP (- i:
k=j+l
KkLb- 'f:
k=l+l
KkLb) _'I;'
}=.+1
Fj.AjieXP ( - t
k-)+l
KkLb)

(6)
The algorithm evaluates the local intensities, F j , starting from the maximum
radial co-ordinate (R) and moving towards the central co-ordinates of the flame.
An initial filtering of the high frequencies on the average flames images, prior to
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 7

the application of the tomographic reconstruction algorithms, was performed

with a least-squares smoothing algorithm, proposed by Savitzky and Golay
(1964), which significantly reduces random noise while avoiding the introduc-
tion of distortions in the data.
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,
J
I '
i
1
'
I
; t ; , J

,, , ,
:KR _Z ,' K R _1: K R
, I
:
,

Projection , AJdli:iymrnetric F~~e r rr

i!
, ~I
, - • - _......
,
r
,
,
"

-', .--
F1GURE 2 Schematicrepresentation of flamediscretisation for unconfined axissymmetric algorithms

TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHM

FOR NON·SYMMETRIC SYSTEMS

The reconstruction of non-symmetric flames requires the acquisition of a larger

number of projections and a dedicated algorithm. Integral methods, based on
Radon's transform or filtered backprojection, require a large number of projec-
tions (more than 100, generally), taken from uniformly spaced angles around the
object, as stated by Andersen (1989). Improved performance is achieved using
algebraic methods (ART) that are able to reconstruct a 3D object correctly from a
limited number of projections, typically inferior to 10. Therefore, as on real-scale
non-laboratorial installations optical access is limited, the study of non-symmet-
rical systems was undertaken using algebraic techniques.
 8 D.P. CORREIA et at.

Algebraic reconstruction methods (ART), first proposed by Gordon et at

(1970) and Hounsfield (1972), are based on a representation of the projection
line integrals as discrete ray sums. The problem of tomographic reconstruction
becomes to solve a system of linear equations in the form:
n

Pj = LAij ·F; (7)

i-I
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Where Fi represents the unknown image function values, on a sampling grid of

size I x I and the solution is expressed in terms of the given projection data Pj'
The subscript j represents the ray index among J rays within all projections. The
summation coefficients, A ij , correspond to the intersection areas between each
ray and the sampling grid.
As for axissyrnmetric objects, the reconstruction process is performed line
after line, admitting that the optical paths are flat. However, the new algorithm
considers optical paths divergent in one dimension (fan), according to the diver-
gence angle of the lenses on the optical data collection system. In the present
algorithm, the approach followed was to assume fan geometry for the geometric
correlations between projection detector elements and the spatial grid surround-
ing the object (evaluation of A jj ) .
Essentially, algebraic reconstruction techniques consist on an iterative method
for solving equation systems. Estimate Ft of the image function F, is updated to
satisfy a particular ray sum equation from the system in Equation 7. The new
estimate F j "+ \ is determined from the previous after n steps, by an update-correc-
tion procedure defined as:

Pj - L AijF;(r)]
F(r+l)
t
= F(r) + A A..tJ
t • ~
i.
42 . (8)
[ ~~ 1)

In this equation, proposed by Herman (1980), the difference

P, - L A;jFi r)
represents the error between the correct projection value Pj

and the re-projection of the image estimate F, following n steps. L A~j is a

j

normalisation factor, and the correction (the term between square brackets) is
backdistributed to the image samples F, along the ray according to the weighing
coefficients, Aij. A relaxation factor, A., can be varied between steps and may be
chosen in the range 0.0 to 2.0, in order to improve convergence.
Improved reconstructed images can be obtained by combining correction terms
from all rays within a particular projection before the image function is updated.
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 9

The approach, initially derived by Andersen and Kak (1984), is referred to as the
simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique, SART, and leads to an
update-correction strategy defined as:
LAij~j
F(r+l)
1
= F(r) + A--"j=---;--
1 L:A 1
ii
j
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(9)

The averaging implied by the summation with respect to the ray index j contrib-
utes for suppressing noise. An iteration of the algebraic reconstruction is completed
when all ray-sum equations in the system have been used exactly once.
The process of converting tomographic algorithms for non-axissymmetric sys-
tems to include self-absorption requires the evaluation of a set of multiplicative
coefficients, L jj . These correspond to the lengths of the optic paths covered by
the radiation between the spatial grid element i and the jth detector element of the
projection. L jj is evaluated on the pre-processing stages and are included in the
exponential attenuation expression of the new algorithm. Formally, these expo-
nential correction terms are similar to A ij . in Equation 9, as they constitute corre-
lation terms between the grid co-ordinates and the projections detector elements.
Thus, these absorption compensation terms are included in the tomographic
reconstruction algorithm, as follows:

LBij~j
p(r+l) = p(r) + A--'J:::::::,-----_
, r
i:».
'""' '

where (10)

and Bij = A ij . exp( - K ij . L ij )

The calculation of optical path lengths, given by Lij , assume that the surround-
ing environment does riot absorb radiation and require that the object (flame)
limits are established, as defined by the flame images collected by the different
detectors.
 10 D.P. CORREIA et al.

ALGORITHM EVALUATION

Numerical discretisation of the tomographic reconstruction technique was imple-

mented on dedicated computer programs in order to evaluate the two algorithms
developed. The performance of the numerical algorithms was assessed both in
terms of computing time and quality of the reconstruction, for a set of different
mathematical functions of known projections, as in Fischer (1992) or Emmerman
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et at (1980).
Testing procedure involved generating a digital projection from a given mathe-
matical function, and then reconstructing the original function using the tomo-
graphic reconstruction algorithms. Sample results for a tested function using the
optimised algorithm are presented in Figures 4, where the domain of the test
function is [-I, I] and results are presented on a [0, I] scale due to object axissym-
metry.
The reconstructed functions of Figure 3. (iii) have demonstrated the ability of
the optimised algorithm to reproduce the original functions based on their projec-
tions.

·!:·::M·!::~·!:::VSA
~ 0.000 0.5 1~ aa 0.5 1~ 0.000 0.5 1
radial distance(mm) abscissa(nun) radial distance(mm)
Original Function Projection Reconstructed Function
(~ (it) (iii)
FIGURE 3 Tomographic reconstruction algorithm tests. (i) Stepwise linear test function, (ii) its pro-
jections and (iii) the reconstructed function

Here, attention is focused on tests related to the variation of the absorption

coefficient and, as a consequence, integrated projections were generated with
non-zero absorption coefficients, assuming the Beer-Lambert law model
(Equation I).
The results obtained for the stepwise linear test function, represented in
Figure 4, show that deviations from the exact Ka )" distribution result in larger
reconstruction errors, for higher values of the object (flame) absorption coeffi-
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 11

cient and for lower values of the radial co-ordinate. The absorption coefficient
used on the reconstruction process was set to ±30% of the value of the original
absorption coefficient and the results emphasise the fact that overestimating the
value of Ka /-.. results in errors of a higher order if compared to those that occur
when smaller values are applied (Figure 4a)). Values of K(original) below 0.5
cm-I produce errors below 5%, for all of the tested conditions. Also, as is illus-
trated in Figure 4b), it is noticeable that the errors decrease for higher values of
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the radial co-ordinate.

Similar tests were performed for the non-axisymmetric tomographic recon-
struction algorithm. These tests included the evaluation of the algorithm response
to random noise on the projection and contributed to validate the algorithm's
robustness, as the introduction of random noise up to 50% on the original func-
tion, produced an increase on the reconstruction errors of less than 5%, without
smoothing the projections.
The results of the extensive tests performed demonstrated the adequacy of the
tomographic algorithms developed to reconstruct complex 3D functions, for dif-
ferent values of the absorption coefficient and other tomography parameters. The
ability of the system to be used as a combustion diagnostic tool was assessed in
laboratorial diffusion flame, as discussed in the next Section.

ASSESSMENT OF THE TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION

TECHNIQUE ON A LABORATORY FLAME

For the purpose of evaluating the quality of the results provided by tomographic
reconstruction of the flame images, the approach followed was to characterise a
laboratorial flame temperature based on the soot emission spectra. As mentioned
by Tien and Lee (1982), soot is the main responsible for the radiative heat trans-
fer in industrial flames. The same authors state that soot particulates, usually
ranging from a few hundred angstroms to a few microns in size, emit continuum
radiation in the visible and infrared, being the main contributor to the luminosity
of these flames. For this reason, and since one of the main objectives of the
present work consists on developing a diagnostic technique that can also be
applied to full-scale industrial furnaces, it seems of great practical interest to
characterise the local emission and temperature of soot particles in the flame.
In the next sub-sections, the laboratorial rig, its operating conditions, the soot
spectra model and the colour-pyrometry technique used are described and the
results obtained are compared with probe measurements.
 12 D.P. CORREIA et "I,

5
4
3 ...._-----,---
2
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1
o
o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
KaA(original) (cm')
-+--30%-0- +30%

a)

c::
'8 2 ,------------,
&1.5 I.-~---------
ll~~
r:O
g
0.25 0.5
--I
0.75 '
rI rl'l»X
~ -+--30%-0- +30%

b)
FIGURE 4 Ratio ~etween reconstructed and original f,~mction values for different values of KQA..used
on. t~e reconstru.c~lOn proce~s. Kat.. (reconstructionj f l.~ . Ka,..:...(Orijinal) and Ka). (rcconsuuctionj f 0.7 Ka)..
(original)- a) Constant r/rmax - 0.5, b) Constant K a ). (original)- 0.75
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 13

a)
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b)

c)

FIGURE 5 a) Instantaneous flame image, b) time-averaged image, integrated along line-of sight
(16 seconds e 400 images) for 800 om and c) space resolved, time-averaged image, after tomo-
graphicreconstruction
 14 D.P. CORREIA et al.

Experimental apparatus

The main components of the experimental rig can be divided in three main
groups: combustion system, data acquisition system and processing hardware.
The combustion system includes three burners mounted on a horizontal plat-
form. Two fuels, propane and hydrogen, can be admitted to the burners, in
co-axial flows. A single burner is used for the axissymmetric flame tests and test-
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ing non-axissymmetric conditions is possible using the three-burner configura-

tion.
The data acquisition system comprises one or several CCiR cameras acquiring
images on the visible and near-IR wavelengths of the spectra, depending on the
interference filters used. The resolution of the flame images is 560x760 pixel.
Each pixel corresponds to a 0.6xO.6mm square, at the flame location. Power and
video signals are fed from a central camera control unit, which is connected to
the power unit and the frame grabber board on a Pc. A blackbody furnace
(Graseby Infrared model IR-564) was used to calibrate the cameras on the
selected wavelengths.
Pre-processing of the images, tomographic reconstruction and remammg
image processing algorithms were developed on C programming language and
are run on dedicated personal computers.

Operating conditions

A 1.5 meter long axissymmetric non-premixed jet propane flame, previously

characterised by Caldeira-Pires and Heitor (1998), making use of time-resolved
fine-wire thermocouples, chemical species concentration and laser velocimetry
was used. The flame is stabilised downstream of a round nozzle with an exit
diameter of 5mm (inner burner diameter - D). Propane flow was set to 0.65 gIs,
resulting on a Reynolds number of 2.04x I0 4 . A co-axial flow of H2 , with a mass
flow rate of about 5.3 mgls, was used to stabilise the flame and attach it to the
burner. The burners are mounted on a horizontal platform.
Sets of CCIR cameras were placed on the platform in order to collect radial
views of the flame. The platform allows changing the position of the cameras,
namely their distance to the flame and the angle between several sets of cameras
(for non-axissymmetric measurements). The video output signals are connected
to a RGBA frame grabber board allowing for the simultaneous acquisition of up
to four independent monochromatic video signals through the colour inputs.
Infrared interference filters (800 and 900 nm filters) were used for the acquisition
of the monochromatic flame images.
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 15

The flame images acquisition procedure consisted on obtaining time-averaged

images for the two wavelengths, for a single projection, as the average flame
characteristics were shown to be axissymrnetric.

The soot spectra

Formation of soot particles occurs during the reaction process due to the incom-
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plete combustion of fuel. The distribution of the soot absorption coefficient, Ka )",
can be modelled according to the general expression for the spectral extinction
coefficient for a polydisperse cloud (Tien and Lee (1982)), by:

K e >. = 2.28. ~' roo r 5

• exp( -3r/r m ) . Q . dr (11)
1 171 Jo
As stated by Koylu and Faeth (1996), if soot particles on the flame are small
when compared to the wavelength (i.e. xp =(rc·dp)/'A. :0; 0.3) the Rayleigh limit is
applicable and Equation II can be developed into Equation 12. This condition is
verified on the present work, for a value of dp ' the mean individual particle diam-
eter of propane soot, of 30 nm (Koylu and Faeth (1996)), and a wavelength of
800 nm, yielding xp = rc·301800 ~ O.ll < 0.3.

367l'nk I;
(12)
K e >. = (n 2 _ k2 + 2)2 + 4n 2k2 A

In Equation 12, nand k are the wavelength dependent real and imaginary parts
of the complex refractive index of soot. The use of Equations II or 12 also
requires a priori knowledge of the distribution of the soot concentration, i;
However, in radiative heat transfer calculations for soot, a useful expression
which does not include the complications of wavelength dependent refractive
indices, was proposed by several authors, namely Hottel and Broughton (1932),
Siddall and McGrath (1963) and, finally, Koylu and Faeth (1994), equation 13.
The dependence of the extinction coefficient with the wavelength for luminous
flames, is of the form:

tc.. 1
--(X- (13)
I; A"
A reasonably large set of values for the constant 0. are suggested in literature
and Koylu and Faeth (1994) obtained a value of 0.83 (±0.08), by performing a
least squares fit on extinction measurements in the wavelength range from
0.514-5.2 11m.
 16 D.P. CORREIA et at.

The evaluation of local flame temperatures from the soot emission spectra was
achieved by applying a colour-pyrometry technique to the tomographically
reconstructed soot local emitted radiation field.

COlour-Pyrometry

The monochromatic spectral radiance of a blackbody Nt

(T) is obtained from
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Planck's radiation law. For a radiating body, the monochromatic spectral radiance
is obtained by multiplying the spectral emissivity, c,"A(n, (by Kirchoffs law,
equal to u"A(T» by the blackbody spectral radiance, as stated in Equation 14:

(14)

Two-colour pyrometry is based on the ratio of the spectral radiance equations

obtained for the same conditions, but for different wavelengths, assuming a
given relation between the two monochromatic emissivities. As stated by Fischer
(1992), for small values of the product AT (above 0.002 mK) an explicit solution
can be obtained by Wien's approximation to Planck's law. As this condition is
verified for the propane flames studied throughout this work, the ratio of the
spectral radiance equations can be written as:
N A , (T) 6, (T) '\2 5 eC2/A2·T
(15)
N A2 (T) "" 6 2 (T) . ,\t 5 . eC2/ A,·T

As a consequence, two-colour pyrometry can be used to quantify the tempera-

ture, resulting in Equation 16, where c2 is the second radiation constant
(c2 = 1,4388 cmK).

(16)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Axissymmetric Flame

The laboratory experiments resulted in a large set of time-averaged images, for

the two monochromatic interference filters used (800 and 900 nm, ± 10 nm).
These images represent the monochromatic flame radiation, integrated along an
optical path, for axial locations between 30 to 60 burner diameters (300 to 600)
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 17

downstream the burners tip Time-averaged images of 1500 frames (l12000s shut-
ter speed) were obtained for two wavelengths (800 and 900 nm). Calibration was
performed using a reference radiance source (blackbody furnace). Sample flame
images, from instantaneous image to time-averaged and tomographically recon-
structed local emitted radiation, are presented in Figure 5.
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1000
•

400 + - - - - - , - - - - - - , - - - - - - - - - - , - - - - , - - - - - - - ,
o 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
rID
• Thennocouples. - •• KoSCO - 0.0 ._-- KoSCO - 0.8
KaBCO - 0.9 - a - - KoSCO - 1.0
FIGURE 6 Flame temperature distribution for the 40D profile. for different values of the monochro-
matic absorption coefficient used on the reconstruction process. The Ka'A values are for 800 nm in
cm- 1

The greyscale levels corresponding to each picture element (pixel) are a func-
tion of the radiation emitted along the optical path, taking into consideration the
radiation absorbed along the same optical path, according to the model presented
on previous sections. It is clear that although the instantaneous flame exhibits a
turbulent behaviour, the time-averaged images have shown to be axissymmettic.
As discussed before, time-averaged images were used on the tomographic
reconstruction applying the algorithm including absorption correction. In the
reconstruction process, the scattering effects were not considered, as suggested
by Koylu and Faeth (1994), which state that for near-infrared measurements in
propane flames the effect of soot aggregate scattering could be assumed negligi-
 18 D.P. CORREIA e1 al.

ble when compared to absorption (Ks1lKa"A < 0.1). Also, the condition for the
application of the Beer-Lambert law (Equation I), mentioned by Bohren and
Huffman (1983), is verified, as the optical thickness (KeL "" Ka-L) is smaller
than I.
Absorption was quantified considering a non-zero value for K a in Equation 13.
The distribution of K" inside the flame was measured through an emis-
sion/absorption technique, for different axial flame locations, and a constant
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characteristic value of Ka was set for the reconstruction of each flame profile.
The characteristic values of Ka used on the reconstruction of the 400, 500 and
600 profiles correspond to the maximum values obtained for each flame profile
from the emission/absorption measurements, respectively, 0.8, 1.1 and 1.6 m-I.
This is because mathematical simulation tests showed that the use of the maxi-
mum value provided the best fitting between the reconstructed and the original
functions.
As illustrated in Figure 6, neglecting absorption (K" "" 0) would lead to large
errors on the temperature measurements obtained from tomographic reconstruc-
tion and pyrometry, when compared to results for the thermocouple measure-
ments by Caldeira-Pires and Heitor (1998).
A set of 3D-temperature measurements based on the combined use of tomogra-
phy reconstruction techniques and the colour-pyrometry algorithm (Equation 16)
are illustrated on Figure 7, together with data obtained from the experiments
obtained by Caldeira-Pires and Heitor (1998). for three axial flame locations.

c:::J~H50
_ 1350
_ 1250
40D
_ 1150
_ 1050
_ 950

o
'-~

20 40 r (nun)
.l.-.
o 1-----1------------../ -
_-
'5O
:!i:650
'50

- Tomography/Pirometry 0 Thennocouples
FtGURE 7 Comparison of results for the temperature field obtained with the temperature tomo-
graphic sensor (line) andthermocouplemeasurements by Caldeira-Pires and Heitor (data points). The
image presents the flame temperature map as obtained by the sensor (OC)

The results presented show the adequacy of the approach adopted on the new
technique. In fact, the temperature profiles obtained with the tomography/pyrom-
etry technique present a good agreement with data obtained using fine wire ther-
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 19

mocouples and, in general, the deviations are within a 10% range. However,
uncertainties are noticeable for regions where soot concentrations are very low,
and visible radiation in mostly due to the influence of flame radical emissions.

Non-Axissymmetric Flame

The study of unconfined non-axissyrnmetric systems was based on images from

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four positions around the flame using four different orientations, but keeping the
distances from the cameras to the central flame axis and to the horizontal plat-
form. Sample images, obtained for downstream locations between 20 and 60
burner diameters approximately and for angles a of 0, 30, 60 and 90° are pre-
sented in Figure 8.

FIGURE 8 CeD camera images of the non-symmetric flame

The geometry of the combustion system (three identical burners aligned)

allows for the adoption of a data simulation technique, which consists on the
addition of virtual cameras, whose images are simulated using symmetry criteria.
It therefore became possible to generate the images that would be captured for
120, 150, 180 and 270°, from the inverted images of the projections obtained for,
°
60, 30, and 90°, respectively.
 20 D.P. CORREIA et al.

The pyrometry algorithms used the enussivuies calculated considering the

attenuation lengths. The local values of the temperature are compared with the
measurements from thermocouples for the same working conditions in Figure 9,
for the 60D profile.
The in-flame temperature profiles obtained for the 60D axial position, repre-
sented in Figure 9, show differences between thermocouple and tomography
results below 70K (8%) confirming the adequacy of the strategy and of the
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developed tomographic reconstruction algorithms for the application to

non-axissymmetric flames.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

A new tomography sensor for combustion systems including a radiation absorp-

tion correction strategy has been developed and applied to laboratorial flames.
The main feature of this technique consists on the inclusion of an exponential
radiation absorption correction term, which allows a significant improvement in
the reconstruction of 3D scalar fields in flames. The new sensor was evaluated
on axissymmetric and non-axissymmetric laboratorial propane flames, using the
colour-pyrometry technique to assess the 3D-temperature field of soot particles
generated inside the flame. The use of K a characteristic of the flame studied
allowed for a good agreement between the obtained results and thermocouples
measurements, over the luminous regions of the flame. These results have con-
firmed the adequacy of the technique developed and the importance of evaluat-
ing absorption effects in emission tomography applications.
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 21
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40 0

a)
1500

G
e..-
1250
~

E 1000
! 750

500 •
·20 ·10 o 10 20
xlD

• Thennocouples --- Tomogmphy/Pyrometry

b)
FIGURE 9 Temperature profiles for the 60D profile of the non-axissyrnmetric flame. a) 3D view of
the flame temperature distribution at 60D b) Comparison of (he central line measurements with ther-
mocouple data
 22 D.P. CORREIA et al.

NOMENCLATURE

A ij Area array
Lij Optical path array
All Abel transform
ci first radiation constant (= 3.7415E-16 Wm 2)
c2 second radiation constant (= 1.4388 cmK)
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dp particle diameter
FO original property distribution function
tv soot volume fraction
K, absorption coefficient
Ke extinction coefficient
Ks scattering coefficient
L optical path length
m imaginary part of refractive index of soot
N radiance
11 real part of refractive index of soot
PO projection function
p abscissa coordinate
R[F] Radon transform
r radial coordinate
r particle radius
T temperature
xI' optical size parameter
Greek Symbols
a absorpti vity
S emissivity
A wavelength
Subscripts
A monochromatic
i,j generic vector coordinates
Superscripts
b blackbody
 TOMOGRAPHY FLAME TEMPERATURE SENSOR 23

Acknowledgements
Financial support provided by the European Union under the project
CLEAN-GLASS, Contract BRPR-CT95---D033 and by the portuguese Founda-
tion for Science and Technology, Reference GGP XXI/BD/3738/96, is gratefully
acknowledged.

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