Long range visualisation of 300nm diameter particles as a diagnostic for high speed combustion flows

The paper describes an automated Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system designed for synchronised combined 2- and 3-component velocity measurements. The system has been designed to make measurements of velocity in the exhaust region of a scaled version of a gas turbine engine operating at high subsonic velocities and high temperatures (typically 800°C) for various configurations. For the PIV camera light detection the flow was seeded with 0.3μm aluminium oxide and 0.2-0.3μm oil mist particles. Tests were performed to determine optimum camera positions based upon Mie scatter calculations for the particles. An evaluation is presented discussing the design and accuracy of the system.