Real-time temperature monitoring technology for dynamic combustion processes using dual-probe femtosecond CARS

We propose a fast responsive and non-invasive optical temperature measurement method which can be used to monitor the temperature of air-fed flames in real time. This method is based on femtosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (fs-CARS). Two probe pulses with different wavelengths are employed in the CARS system to generate two CARS signals, and the intensity ratio of the two CARS signals has a definite numerical relationship with temperature and therefore can be used to rapidly measure the flame temperature. The temperature of methane/air swirl flames was monitored by the dual-probe fs-CARS thermometry with a sampling rate of 100 Hz. For the steady swirl flame, the measured average temperature in the inner recirculation zone is 1551 K with a standard deviation of 3.7%. While, at a higher methane/air equivalent ratio of 0.74, the flame cannot remain steady, and the temperature frequently jumps from around 1700 K to 2000 K, causing the vortex to expand and break. A significant advantage of the dual-probe fs-CARS thermometry is that the temperature of the flame can be obtained immediately during the measurement without any post-processing. Therefore, this method is a potential candidate for accurately monitoring the real-time temperature of turbulent combustion.