Development and Application of Novel Laser-Based Diagnostics to Advance Energy and Combustion Science

While research and development efforts are rapidly advancing the deployment of renewable energy technologies, combustion remains the primary energy production method for most of the world. To reduce the harmful effects of combustion byproducts on human health and the global climate, scientists and engineers must understand the complex physical and chemical processes governing the combustion of various fuels in relevant environments. Optical diagnostics are widely utilized to characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of combustion processes via nonintrusive measurements in both fundamental experiments and applied environments such as gas turbines, internal combustion engines, and rocket engines. Furthermore, these optical diagnostic techniques are well suited to study additional energy-related processes including catalytic conversion and energy storage.

This meeting will focus on recent advances in developing and applying laser-based optical sensing techniques to study combustion and energy technologies. Topics will include diagnostics for key combustion parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure, velocity, soot, species concentrations and distributions), overcoming challenges in practical environments, and improvements in measurement sensitivity and resolution.