Error estimates for Rayleigh scattering density and temperature measurements in premixed flames

Rayleigh scattering has become an accepted technique for the determination of total number density during the combustion process. The interpretation of the ratio of total Rayleigh scattering signal as a ratio of densities or temperatures is hampered by the changing composition through a flame, since the average Rayleigh scattering cross-section depends on the gas composition. Typical correction factors as a function of degree of reaction, fuel and equivalence ratio were calculated. The fuels considered were H₂, CH₄, C₂H₄, C₂H₆ and C₃H₈. Factors as low as 0.7 and 0.56 were found for the heaviest hydrocarbon fuel at large equivalence ratio for interpreting the Rayleigh scattering intensity as gas density and inverse temperature, respectively. This is primarily due to the presence of CO and H₂ as intermediates. As CO and H₂ are subsequently oxidized to CO₂ and H₂O, these factors approach 1.0. Conversely, the worst case, when using H₂ as a fuel, occurs in the post flame zone. However, the correction factors for H₂ are near 1.0 and the errors involved will, in general, remain within the expected experimental accuracy of a typical Rayleigh scattering system. Linear correlations of correction factors with equivalene ratio and with the product of equivalence ratio and fuel molecular weight were found and presented. The interpretation of Rayleigh scattering as temperature was found to have larger errors than the interpretation as density. Corrections for changes in gas composition were applied to Rayleigh scattering temperature measurements in the post flame region of CH₄ and C₃H₈ flames with equivalence ratios of 0.75 and 1.0. The corrected temperatures were in excellent agreement with thermocouple measurements.List of symbols A ₁, A ₂ correlation coefficients - B ₁, B ₂ correlation coefficients - C ₁, C ₂ correlation coefficients - D ₁, D ₂ correlation coefficients - C calibration constant for Rayleigh scattering optics - H total enthalpy - Î I _R /I _RO - I _i incident laser intensity - I _R Rayleigh scattering intensity - I _R0 Rayleigh scattering intensity at reference condition - N total number density of gas - N ₀ total number density of gas at reference condition - n _i index of refraction of species i - – T/T _O - T temperature - T _a adiabatic flame temperature - T ₀ reference temperature - t time - W/W ₀ - W mean molecular weight - W ₀ mean molecular weight at reference condition - W _ij rate of production of species i by reaction j - X _i mole fraction of species i - degree of reaction (T – T ₀)/(T _a – T ₀) - laser wavelength - ₀ Loschmidt number - /₀ - density - ₀ density at reference condition - dimensionless mean Rayleigh scattering cross-section - _Ri Rayleigh scattering cross-section of species i - scattering angle measured from the electromagnetic field vector - equivalence ratio