With the rapid development of new combustion technologies, a deeper understanding of flames via advanced combustion diagnostics is required to meet society’s demand for combustion devices that operate with greater efficiency and less pollution.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an innovative approach to elemental analysis. We apply this technology in the LACER lab to capture the flame characteristics from both a chemical and a physical perspective. In this way, we can gain a greater understanding of the flame structure and the chemical mechanisms of the combustion process.
LIBS has many advantages as a combustion diagnostic. Most importantly, LIBS paves the way for instant elemental composition measurements that do not interfere with the combustion process. As a result, it has broad applications in both industry and academia. Our goal is to build and optimize the LIBS process as well as to develop more creative applications for the field of combustion.