Experimental study of the synthesis of fused silica by direct combustion hydrolysis

Oxy-fuel flames for direct combustion hydrolysis of fused silica (DQ) are characterized, using non- intrusive optical measurement techniques only. Flow, temperature, concentrations, development of silica nano-particles in the flame, and surface temperature of the glass in the flame are measured. The setup used for characterization of particle distribution via Rayleigh scattering as well as mandatory improvements of the Raman/Rayleigh technique for temperature and concentration measurements in oxy-fuel flames have been developed in the framework of this study and are presented. The measurement techniques herein demonstrated are not only capable of describing these special extremely hot flames, but are broadly applicable in oxy-fuel flames as well as in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes. The presented data evidently shows that if the special character of oxy-fuel flames is taken into account, some of the results drawn from earlier investigations into CVD, concerning particle growth, flame stability, and particle deposition efficiency, are transferable into DQ. From the extensive data given, connections between different information are detected and help to reduce required measurements for further investigation and point to simple techniques that might be used for online process monitoring, at least during research and development of similar flames. Received: 18 December 2000 / Accepted: 14 June 2001