Towards an Ultra-High-Speed Combustion Pyrometer

Abstract

Measuring reliably the correct temperature of a sooty flame in an internal combustion engine is important to optimise its efficiency; however, conventional contact thermometers, such as thermocouples, are not adequate in this context, due to drift, temperature limitation (≤2100 K) and slow response time (~10 ms). In this paper, we report on the progress towards the development of a novel ultra-high-speed combustion pyrometer, based on collection of thermal radiation via an optical fibre, traceably calibrated to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) over the temperature range T = (1073–2873) K, with residuals <1%, and capable of measuring at a sampling rate of 250 kHz.

Keywords

• combustion
• temperature
• pyrometer
• optical sensor