Dual-broadband rotational cars measurements in an IC engine

Abstract

This is the first report of pure rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) measurementsin an internal combustion (IC) engine. Single-shot, dual-broadband rotational CARS (DB-RCARS) spectra were recorded both prior to ignition and in the postcombustion gases. From these spectra, both temperature and relative oxygen concentrations were evaluated. The pressure was registered simultaneously with the CARS measurements in the spark-ignition engine burning natural gas and air. Prior to ignition, normally at temperatures below 1000 K and pressures below 2 MPa, a rotational CARS spectrum is very temperature sensitive, and the technique can be used for temperature measurements with high accuracy. Evaluated temperatures show a negligible dependence on uncertainties in parameters such as the nonresonant susceptibility of the gas and the slit width. Moreover, no collisional narrowing of the lines has to be taken into account. The relative standard deviation of evaluated temperatures and of relative oxygen concentrations from single-shot measurements were as low as 1, and 1.4–1.9%, respectively. In the postcombustion gases at temperatures above 2000 K and pressures above 1.5 MPa, the nonresonant CARS background gave a large contribution to the total spectrum. In this temperature and pressure range, the evaluated values of temperature and nonresonant susceptibility are not independent, and the nonresonant susceptibility had to be fixed at a precalculated value to get a reliable temperature evaluation. The avantages and disadvantages of rotational CARS in comparison with vibrational CARS for IC engine measurements are discussed.