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Wave Front Imaging for Dense Sprays

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Navy
Contract: N00014-11-C-0497
Agency Tracking Number: N10A-027-0410
Amount: $495,227.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: N10A-T027
Solicitation Number: 2010.A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2010
Award Year: 2011
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2011-09-28
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH -
United States
DUNS: 072021041
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Darin Knaus
 Principal Investigator
 (603) 643-3800
 dak@creare.com
Business Contact
 James Barry
Title: President
Phone: (603) 643-3800
Email: contractsmgr@creare.com
Research Institution
 Mass Institute of Technology
 Michael P Corcoran
 
77 Massachusetts Avenue Bldg. E19-750
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
United States

 (617) 253-3906
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

The performance of modern combustion systems used in propulsion devices (such as gas turbine main combustors, augmentors, and rockets) is largely dependent on the mixing of fuel and oxidizer. This mixing process, often involving a liquid jet emanating into a gaseous flow followed by subsequent breakup and atomization, is critically important to many performance metrics including thrust, efficiency, static stability, dynamic stability, and emissions. Despite the importance of jet breakup and atomization, the process is poorly understood and design approaches are largely based on correlations, yielding mixed results. Our poor understanding of liquid jet dynamics is partly due to the fact that the diagnostic tools currently available to study liquid jet behavior have a limited ability to visualize the dense core region of the jet. Near field dynamics occurring close to the injector typically play a dominant role in determining the fuel distribution in the combustion zone. During our Phase I project, Creare and MIT applied an emerging 3-D imaging technique called Wave Front Imaging (WFI) to sprays for the first time. In Phase II, we will optimize WFI hardware and software into a powerful research tool, and demonstrate the new diagnostic under conditions relevant to aerospace propulsion.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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