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Combustion Science and Technology

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SHORT COMMUNICATION
Y. GOLDMAN
a a

Department of Aeronautical Engineering, TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel Published online: 25 Jun 2007.

To cite this article: Y. GOLDMAN (1987): SHORT COMMUNICATION, Combustion Science and Technology, 55:4-6, 169-175 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00102208708947078

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Combust. Sci.and Tech., 1987. Vol. 55. pp. 169-175 Photocopying permitted by license only

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SHORT COMMUNICATION Temperature Measurement in Combustors by Use of Suction Pyrometry

Y. GOLDMAN Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
(Received May 19, 1987; in final form June 19, 1987)

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Abstract-The purpose of this paper is to introduce new mea surement techniques and configurations in gas suction pyrometry. A detailed description of three types of mini-pyrometers for the study of burning and heat transfer processes is pre sented. A suction pyrometer who se inner cavity is insulated by ceramic wool was developed for use in high velocity and high temperature jet s of combustion products. A second type of pyrometer was developed for measuring oscillating gas temperatures, based on a micron-size sensitive head located in a spherical piece of fibrous material. through which the hot gases are aspirated. A third pyrometer was developed with an electrically-heated thermocouple and pulsed suction for use in low velocity "dirty" gaseous media.

INTRODUCTION Uncertainty in currently used optical methods of gas temperature measurement such as Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering, the sodium D-line technique, etc., is about 50 K ( 2.5 percent of the full scale) (see, e.g., Hakberg, 1984; Hayhurst and Kittelson, 1977), which restricts their application in detailed studies of combustion phenomena and other processes with high temperature gradients. Another restriction, of less importance, is the low optical density flames condition, Different fine wire thermocouple techniques (see, e.g., Ballantyne and Moss, 1977; Lockwood and Moneib, 1982; Katsuki et al., 1987) with electrical time lag compensation were successfully used for gas temperature measurements in flames. It was shown that they possess good spatial resolution and that turblent flame is not sufficiently disturbed by wires of diameters less than 90 ,urn (less than the Kolmogorov scale) many measurement domain. Difficulties with these techniques related to: (a) the time response constant variation; (b) the lag compensation on a time-averaged basis rather than on an instantaneous fluctuating one ; (c) restricted response of the thermocouple wire; and (d) temperature corrections for radiative and conductive heat losses. Concurrently used suction pyrometers have higher accuracy and reliability, but suffer from bulky size which may contribute to distortion of the processes. The error of the optical methods refers to the absolute value of the gas temperature, while that of suction pyrometers refers to the difference between the gas and combustion zone average temperatures (see, e.g., Beer and Chigier, 1972) (that may be evaluated for most of practical cases in a range of 300 100 K), which is usually less than the former by one order of magnitude. The measurement accuracy of a wire thermocouple temperature itself is very high and its resolution is less than 1 K. By pumping a gas sample through the refractory shields of the pyrometer containing a thermocouple junction, convection can be made the prevalent form of heat transfer and the gas temperature approached at less than 20 K uncertainty (about 5 percent of the above difference).
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EXPERIMENTS AND DISCUSSION The three types of mini-suction pyrometers described below were developed for various applications in the study of combusion and heat transport processes: (a) Suction Pyrometer with Inner Cavity Insulated by Ceramic Wool This type is intended for use in high velocity (Mach 1.5) and high temperature (2100 K) jet-engine exhaust plumes. Its schematic and main design details are given in Figure 1. After suction through a 2 mm diameter ceramic spout, the hot combustion products enter a well-insulated cavity containing a spherical thermocouple junction, and then infiltrate through ceramic fibre wool. The gas penetrates the porous material from within, which results in increased heat intake at the inner surface, with the outer surface serving as heat sink. The temperature difference between the gas and the inner surface of the wool is reduced accordingly and the monitoring thermocouple registers a very close approximation of true gas temperature.

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FIGURE I Suction pyrometer. I-thermocouple PtRh 20%/40%; 2-lwo-channel ceramic tube; 3ziconia bulk fibers; 4-alsinty 99.7 tube; 5-zirconia cement; 6-spacer.

The pyrometer, when inserted in supersonic gas stream, will perturb the flow (as any intrusive sensor) resulting in the establishment of shock waves. In that case the instrument will measure a stagnation gas temperature behind the shock waves. For non-complete reaction flows, it will experience increased local temperatures and attendant enhancement in the reaction rates . The gas sample after monitoring inside the pyrometer cavity is actually separated from the main stream and attains relatively low velocity (up to 50 mls in our experiment). Its temperature differs from that of isothermal equilibrium, due to the gas self-radiation loss and convection at the inner surface. Aspiration of the

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gas through a ceramic wool layer made of very fine (2-3 microns) fiber results in heating the surface to the gas temperature by enhanced convection, and all the area approaches the isothermal equilibrium when the junction of the thermocouple attains the temperature of the gas. Factors that can violate the equilibrium are: back-radiation toward the inlet and heat conduction through the walls. Both these factors can be reduced when sufficient energy is provided with the suction gas.

2200
Tgas

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2000
~ 1800 .........

,..---,

I-

1600

1400

20

40

60

80

100

120

x 10-6 m3/sec

FIGURE 2 Pyrometer temperature change. I-gas temperature 2160 K; 2-gas temperature 2130 K.

In Figure 2, the thermocouple reading is plotted as a function of the suction flow rate . At zero suction the reading represents an average with respect to the thermodynamic equilibrium between the convection gain and radiation loss by the sensitive part of the instrument. As the suction rate increases, so does the reading , asymptotically approaching the gas temperature. The horizontal stretch of the curve represents vanishing of the off-radiation component in the total energy balance and corresponds to the true gas temperature (to the accuracy of the recorder used).
(b) Pyrometerfor Oscillating Gas-Temperature Measurement

Temperature fluctuations can for certain reactions and for unsteady processes markedly increase the reaction rate and intensity, therefore, knowledge of the instantaneous gas temperature (see, e.g., Elmore and Watkins, 1985; Grethe et al., 1984) is required. A type of pyrometer, based on suction with off-radiation losses compensated so as to enhance the thermocouple response function , was developed for use in processes with rapid variation of the local gas temperature. The

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FIGURE 3 Schematic of thermocouple. I-suction flow; 2-thermocouple junction; 3-ceramic wool; 4-ceramic tube; S-steel support tube; 6-electrical connections; 7-exit for suction.

schematic of the thermocouple and suction system is presented in Figure 3. The small size of the sensitive head (wire flattened to 30,um after welding) makes for an intensified transient response to temperature fluctuations. Suction through a hemispherical cavity containing a small spherical piece of ceramic wool, through which the hot gases are aspirated increases the response more than six fold, which makes it possible to determine unsteady temperature fluctuation of intermediate frequency, and permits measurements irrespective of the flow regime in the measuring areas . A theoretical analysis of an idealized thermocouple, with the outer and inner radiation heat exchange of the wool taken into account, showed the contribution of the wool and strong suction in enhancing the sensitivity of the thermocouple. The following equation was obtained for reduction of the experimental data:

A . w T(t) = [(w/cf + 1] [sm(wt) -~ cos(wt)] ,

where T= thermocouple temperature, t= time, w = angular frequency, A= gas temperature amplitude, and the calibration constant c was found by tests with a mechanically controlled interrupted flame. The above equation indicates that the thermocouple follows the gas temperature so long as iu is small. For any value of the latter, the temperature amplitude of the thermocouple is smaller than A by the factor [(w/c)2 + 1J1 12. The thermocouple was used in a pulsed combustor operating at a frequency of 160 Hz (Figure 4 shows part of the results). The instrument was installed at the end of the inlet section of the combustor chamber, where the flame root is stabilized. The measured thermocouple amplitude (averaged over 10 cycles) was 4 K, and the gas temperature amplitude (for c= 40 s -I) was 102 K. The gas temperature-time relation calculated with the above equation is also included in the figure. The local mean gas temperature was 1000 K, and the high-frequency ' signal superimposed on the thermocouple signal, as seen in the figure, is noise due to the electrical system . The maximum resolution of a thermocouple probe as described above is several hundred cycles per second and is restricted by thermoelectric effects (due to the

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....

a:
<{

w ::::>

a:
o,

w ....

10

20

30

TIME (ms)
FIGURE 4 Instantaneous temperature in pulsed combustor. I-thermocouple combustion gas temperature (calculated). temperature; 2-

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flame, or within the thermocouple itself), by reduced reliability of the thermocouple at diameters less than 10 .urn, and by the signal-to-noise ratio of the instrumentation used. A noncatalytic coating can be used (see, e.g., Kremer, 1966; Kent, 1970) to insulate the catalytically active thermocouple from the flame and to reduce embrittlement and change of its calibration resulted by gas-contamination. When fine fiber wool of aluminium or zirconium oxide is used , no distortion of the ceramic material is expected from fluctuating pressure and temperature. Gas velocity, as was tested, up to 200 mls did not distort wool by drag force. This may be explained by the small size of the fiber and the short distances between the fiber intersections in the wool structure.

FIGURE 5 Electrically-Heated pyrometer: I-thermocouple; 2-two-channel ceramic tube ; 3-alsint tube ; 4-steel support tube; 5-electrical connections; 6-exit for pulsed suction; 7-suction flow.

(c) Electrically-Heated Suction Pyrometer Techniques (a) and (b) are both unsuitable for a dirty gaseous media (such as the combustion products of pulverized coal) because of the presence of the ceramic wool, and, moreover, in some cases continuous suction from the measurement area is undesirable. Accordingly, an alternative technique was developed for this purpose, based on an electrically-heated thermocouple and pulsed suction. The device is shown in Figure 5. A thin thermocouple junction is located at the narrowed (2 rom) end of a ceramic tube, through which suction is applied.

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Separation between the alternating current used for heating and the direct current used for temperature measurement is effected by means of a filter network, in view of the need to isolate the thermal e.mJ. from the a.c. voltage produced by the heating current. The proposed technique is .based on the principle that the convective component of the overall heat transfer, h(~ - T), is highly sensitive to variation of the gas velocity and vanishes only when the temperature of the gas ~ equals that of the thermocouple wire T. During the test-pulses the convective heat flux is enhanced and the increase is reflected in jumps in the recorded thermocouple temperature, upward or downward, depending on the temperature difference between the gas and the junction. When the electrical contribution equals exactly the radiation energy transport from the thermocouple base to the surroundings, the temperature of the thermocouple is the same as that of the gas and no testjump is observed in the recorded temperature. The measurement routine begins with an unheated thermocouple and proceeds by gradually adding electrical heating. Each suction stroke is associated with a temperature peak until a certain temperature range has been achieved, after which reversed peaks appear. Fine tuning makes it possible to approach the gas temperature within the transient interval of 10 K. Figure 6 illustrates the pyrometer temperature measurement at a point of the gas combustion chamber under steady-state conditions. Positions on the plot are , respectively: I-unheated thermocouple, 2-first test-suction peak, 3-first step of electrical heating, 4-second test-suction peak, 5-subsequent heating steps and suction pulses, 6-temperature of wire close to that of the gas.

1300 1250
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1200 1150

10

20

30

40

50

60

TI ME (sec)
FIGURE 6 Temperature of pyrometer with pulsed suction .

The time required to make a measurement is relatively long (about 50 s for the sample test shown) and acordingly, this technique can not be used in 'combustors with continously changing temperature. Possible shortening of the operational procedure may be achieved by using a computerized automatic operation of the system.

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Ballant yne, A., and Moss, J. B. ( 1977 ). Fine Wire Th erm ocouple Measurements of Fluc tuat ing Tem per atur e', Comb. Sci. Tech. 17,63. Beer, 1. M., and Ch igier, N. A., (1972). Fuel and Energy Science Series: Combustion Aerodynamics. Applied Sciences Pub. London. Elmore, D. L., and Watkins, W. B. (1985). Dynamic Gas Temperature Mea surements System, I.S.A. Transaction 24 (2), 2, 73. Grethe, K., Kohler . W., and Leuck el, W. (198 4). Direc t Measurem ents of Instantaneous Peak Temperatures in Laminar and Turbulent Diffusion Flames. Progre ss Report of the Karlsruhe Un iversity. Hakberg, B. (1984). Turbulent Combustion, Energy Technology, No.1, 6. Hayhurst, A. N., and Kittelson , D. B. (1977) . Heat and Mass Transfer Consideration in the use of Electrically Heated Thermocouples of Iridium versus Iridium /Rhodium Alloy in Atmospheric Pressure Flame, Comb . and Flame 28,301. Katsuk i, M., Mizutan i, Y., and Matsumoto, Y. (1987). An Improved Thermocouple Techn ique for Measurement of Fluctuating Temperatures in Flames, Comb. and Flame 67 ,27. Kent, J. H. (1970 ). A Noncatalytic Coat ing for Platinum-Rhodium Thermocouples. Comb. and Flame 14, 279 . Kremer, H. (1966) . Eleventh Int. Sympos ium on Combust ion, The Combustion Institute , Pittsburgh, p. 799. Lockwood , F. C; and Moneib , H. A. ( 198 2). Fluctuating Temperature Measuremen t in Turbulent Jet Diffusion Flame. Comb. and Flame 47, 29 1.