Flame thermometry using laser-induced-grating spectroscopy of nitric oxide

A systematic study of laser-induced thermal-grating scattering (LITGS) using nitric oxide as an absorbing species is presented as a means of thermometry in air-fed combustion. The relative contributions to the scattered signal from degenerate four-wave mixing, DFWM, and from laser-induced thermal-grating scattering, LITGS, are studied in the time domain for NO in N(2) buffer gas up to 4 bar, using a pulsed laser system to excite the (0,0) γ-bands of NO at 226.21 nm. LITGS signals from combustion-generated NO in a laminar, pre-mixed CH(4)/O(2)/N(2) flame on an in-house constructed slot burner were used to derive temperature values as a function of O(2) concentration and position in the flame at 1 and 2.5 bar total pressure. Temperature values consistent with the calculated adiabatic flame temperature were derived from averaged LITGS signals over 50–100 single shots at 10 Hz repetition rate in the range 1600–2400 K with a pressure-dependent uncertainty of ± 1.8% at 1 bar to ± 1.4% at 2.5 bar. Based on observed signal-to-noise ratios, the minimum detectable concentration of NO in the flame is estimated to be 80 ppm for a 5 s measurement time at 10 Hz repetition rate.