Practical aspects of three-dimensional flame imaging using tomographic chemiluminescence

A technique based on tomographic chemiluminescence is described for obtaining three-dimensional (3D) flame imaging measurements. The technique utilizes a set of 2D projection measurements from arbitrary view angles to reconstruct a 3D flame using a tomographic inversion algorithm. This technique has been successfully demonstrated both numerically and experimentally. Here we aim to further discuss some practical aspects in the implementation of the technique. These aspects include: 1) the termination criteria of the inversion algorithm and their effects on the accuracy and efficiency of tomographic reconstruction processes; 2) the effects of regularization on reconstructing turbulent flames and the determination of optimal regularization factor; 3) the effects of number of views on reconstruction quality, 4) the impact of the CCD resolution on volumetric retrieval, and 5) the visualization of the 3D flame data. These aspects will be addressed by both simulative investigation on various flame phantoms and a well-controlled flame stabilized by a McKenna burner. The results presented are expected to be valuable for the practical implementation of the technique, facilitating its applications to practical combustion systems.