Laser interferometric detection of heat release rate perturbation field of acoustically perturbed laminar premixed flames

Laser interferometry, which was originally used to measure density perturbation, has been previously used to determine the heat release rate perturbation, which is a key factor in the analysis of combustion instability. However, its spatial accuracy is still unsatisfied. In the present work, an improved fringe Fourier analysis method is proposed to process the results obtained from the laser interferometry measurement, aiming to accurately determine the spatial distribution of flame heat release rate perturbation. The measurement of heat release rate perturbation was performed on a acoustic perturbed laminar premixed flame, with the burner outlet diameter of 8 mm. Interference patterns generated by two laser beams with a diameter of 70 mm were recorded at a frame rate of 6000 Hz. A spatial dependent fringe processing method, referred as the improved fringe Fourier analysis, was developed to demodulate the interference phase from the fringe patterns. The proper orthogonal decomposition analysis was performed on these results to analyze the component of interference signals. Validation of the present technique was conducted by comparing the heat release rate perturbation field resulting from the laser interferometric technique to those from the CH* chemiluminescence from the flame. Comparisons were performed both for the global and local values, and the low-frequency natural oscillation effects were analyzed. Finally, a refraction correction method based on background-oriented Schlieren is proposed to compensate the beam deflection caused by flame.