Pan Du

Pan Du received his bachelor’s degree in Energy and Power System and Automation from Tsinghua University, Beijing, in 2015. Two years later, he graduated with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. He joined LACER in 2017. Currently, he is leading an effort demonstrating the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to obtain accurate atomic ratio and mixture fraction in a flame with multiple elements. Temperature distribution is also measured using the acoustic system, which is called laser-induced breakdown thermometry.

Research
Combustion has been widely used in industries as well as in daily life throughout the world, and will continue to be a major energy resource long into the future. As new combustion technologies rapidly develop, deeper understandings of flame obtained through more advanced combustion diagnostic approaches are required to meet new demands for higher efficiency, less pollution and smaller combustion device scale.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rising laser-based technique that provides many elemental analysis innovations. In the LACER lab, we apply this technology to combustion diagnostics to capture flame characteristics in both chemical and physical perspectives. Thus, we can get a better understanding of the flame structure and chemical mechanisms in the combustion process.

LIBS has great advantages in combustion diagnostics for many reasons. It offers the possibility of measuring the concentration of components instantly in different locations of the flame, without interfering with the combustion process. As a result, it has broad prospective uses in both market and research areas. Our goal is to build and optimize the system, as well as to develop more creative applications in the combustion field.