All-optoelectronic sensors for combustion-related processes

Control of combustion processes can be enabled by monitoring the spatial distribution of chemical species, imaged by an appropriate tomographic technique. The overall performance of a system for optical tomographic imaging is determined by the performance of the individual sensors. Two particular sensor designs, based on optical beam attenuation have been investigated for in-situ and real-time monitoring of hydrocarbon concentration in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, and for monitoring of NO/sub 2/ concentration in the exhaust plume of a turbine engine.