Developing and Applying Advanced Optical Diagnostics to study Soot (DAD-Soot)

Human health and global climate are adversely affected by aerosol soot emissions.

Qualitative and quantitative measurements of these emissions are challenging, and there is a lack of non-destructive techniques allowing monitoring both their concentration and characteristics.

In addition, at laboratory scale soot formation processes in combustion reactors, especially the inception zone at the transition between molecules and nanoparticles, remains poorly understood.

This proposal is aimed to shed light on these deficiencies via the development and application of several state-of-the-art laser-based diagnostic techniques to probe structural, chemical, and optical properties of soot.

The first target is to develop and apply novel online spectroscopic techniques involving Raman scattering and ultraviolet-visible absorption to progress on the fundamental understanding of soot formation processes and their various properties.

The effects of fuel chemistry on nanoparticle formation, their morphology, and thus their climate impacts will be studied by these developed online techniques and validated by theoretical simulations.

Based on these laboratory studies, the second target is to construct and apply Scheimpflug Raman lidar for remote-sensing of soot emissions at elevated distances in the atmosphere.

This project will establish initial steps in a longstanding endeavor towards applying advanced optical/laser diagnostics to environmental monitoring.