Non-destructive terahertz characterisation of particulates in aerospace fluids

Industrial Problem Statement: Rolls-Royce is one of the world's leading industrial technology companies, and a global business providing integrated power systems for use on land, at sea and in the air.

The company pioneers cutting-edge technologies to deliver increasingly clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet's vital power needs.

Their Civil Aerospace business is a major manufacturer of aero engines for large commercial aircraft, regional jet, and business aviation markets. Their Defence business provides power and propulsion systems around the world, across Air, Land and Sea.

The business uses its engineering expertise, in-depth knowledge, and capabilities to provide through-life support solutions for its global customers. Their technology will play a fundamental role in enabling the transition to a low carbon global economy.

With the continuous need for technologies to deliver on sustainability commitments and enable future products, this project will investigate the use of non-destructive quantification of particulates in aerospace fluids with the capability to monitor fluids such as hydrocarbons, including fuels & oils, and air for particulates to enable the necessary understanding of the composition of those fluids.

This will include the use of cutting-edge terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and the development of inverse scattering models to identify and quantify sediments in particulates in aerospace fluids.