Infrared laser-absorption spectroscopy (IR-LAS) sensors play an important role in diagnosing and characterizing a wide range of combustion systems. Of all the laser-diagnostic techniques, LAS is arguably the most versatile and quantitative, as it has been used extensively to provide quantitative, species-specific measurements of gas temperature, pressure, composition and velocity in both laboratory-and industrial-scale systems. Historically, most IR-LAS work has been conducted using tunable diode lasers, however, today's researchers have access to a wide range of light sources that provide unique sensing capabilities and convenient access to nearly the entire IR spectrum (≈1 to 20 μm). In particular, the advent of room-temperature wavelength-tunable mid-infrared semiconductor lasers (e.g., interband-and quantum-cascade lasers) and hyperspectral light sources (e.g., Fourierdomain mode-locked lasers, dispersed supercontinuum lasers, and frequency combs) has provided a number of unique capabilities that combustion researchers have exploited. The primary goal of this review paper is to document the recent development, application, and current capabilities of IR-LAS sensors for laboratory-and industrial-scale combustors and propulsion systems. A thorough review and description of the fundamental spectroscopy governing the accuracy of such sensors, and recent findings and databases that enable improved modeling of molecular absorption spectra will be provided. Modern light sources and the most commonly used diagnostic techniques are also discussed.

The development and initial demonstration of a scanned-wavelength, first-harmonic-normalized, wavelength-modulation spectroscopy with nf detection (scanned-WMS-nf/1f) strategy for calibration-free measurements of gas conditions are presented. In this technique, the nominal wavelength of a modulated tunable diode laser (TDL) is scanned over an absorption transition to measure the corresponding scanned-WMS-nf/1f spectrum. Gas conditions are then inferred from least-squares fitting the simulated scanned-WMS-nf/1f spectrum to the measured scanned-WMS-nf/1f spectrum, in a manner that is analogous to widely used scanned-wavelength direct-absorption techniques. This scanned-WMS-nf/1f technique does not require prior knowledge of the transition linewidth for determination of gas properties. Furthermore, this technique can be used with any higher harmonic (i.e., n>1), modulation depth, and optical depth. Selection of the laser modulation index to maximize both signal strength and sensitivity to spectroscopic parameters (i.e., gas conditions), while mitigating distortion, is described. Last, this technique is demonstrated with two-color measurements in a well-characterized supersonic flow within the Stanford Expansion Tube. In this demonstration, two frequency-multiplexed telecommunication-grade TDLs near 1.4 μm were scanned at 12.5 kHz (i.e., measurement repetition rate of 25 kHz) and modulated at 637.5 and 825 kHz to determine the gas temperature, pressure, H2O mole fraction, velocity, and absorption transition lineshape. Measurements are shown to agree within uncertainty (1%-5%) of expected values.

A novel strategy has been developed for analysis of wavelength-scanned, wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) with tunable diode lasers (TDLs). The method simulates WMS signals to compare with measurements to determine gas properties (e.g., temperature, pressure and concentration of the absorbing species). Injection-current-tuned TDLs have simultaneous wavelength and intensity variation, which severely complicates the Fourier expansion of the simulated WMS signal into harmonics of the modulation frequency (fm). The new method differs from previous WMS analysis strategies in two significant ways: (1) the measured laser intensity is used to simulate the transmitted laser intensity and (2) digital lock-in and low-pass filter software is used to expand both simulated and measured transmitted laser intensities into harmonics of the modulation frequency, WMS-nfm (n = 1, 2, 3,…), avoiding the need for an analytic model of intensity modulation or Fourier expansion of the simulated WMS harmonics. This analysis scheme is valid at any optical depth, modulation index, and at all values of scanned-laser wavelength. The method is demonstrated and validated with WMS of H2O dilute in air (1 atm, 296 K, near 1392 nm). WMS-nfm harmonics for n = 1 to 6 are extracted and the simulation and measurements are found in good agreement for the entire WMS lineshape. The use of 1f-normalization strategies to realize calibration-free wavelength-scanned WMS is also discussed.