Date of Award
12-2006
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Engineering
Department
Electrical Engineering
Major Professor
Jovanovich, Kim; Charalampidis, Dimitrios
Second Advisor
Jilkov, Kim
Abstract
With the prospect of hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engines, such as Rocket Propellant 1 (RP-1) or methane (CH4) fueled engines being considered for use in future space flight systems, the contributions of intermediate or final combustion products resulting from these hydrocarbon fuels are of great interest. The effect of several diatomic molecular radicals, such as Carbon Monoxide, Molecular Carbon, Methylene Radical, Cyanide or Cyano Radical, Hydroxyl, and Nitric Oxide, needs to be identified and the effects of their band systems on the spectral region from 300 nm to 850 nm determined. This work shows the effect of different engine operating parameters, oxidizer-to-fuel ratio and chamber pressure, and different optical alignments, different lines-of-sight and fields-ofview, on the spectral signature of the engine exhaust plume of a small hydrocarbonfueled test engine. Computational results, along with experimental results of an extensive test program are presented.
Recommended Citation
Langford, Lester A., "Optical Spectroscopy to Determine Intermediate Combustion Product Radicals in a Hydrocarbon Fueled Rocket Engine Exhaust Plume" (2006). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 493.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/493
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.