International Cooperative Research Program on High-Pressure, Laser-Induced Fluorescence Studies of Nitric Oxide and Molecular Fuel Tracers

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

0230550 Hanson This award supports the PI and graduate students from Stanford University in a collaboration with Juergen Wolfrum of the Institute for Physics and Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. The combined efforts of the German and US groups will focus on two problems susceptible to their complementary expertise. One is the development of quantitative laser-induced fluorescence measurements of nitric oxide at high pressures where pressure broadening produces interference from molecular oxygen. The other is to extend to high pressure the characterization of molecular fuel tracers for imaging of the fuel/air mixing. The German and US groups have chosen molecular tracers with different chemical structure, and the collaborative research will facilitate direct comparison of the two different methods. During the first year and a half of this project, significant work was completed on both problems. The third year will build on this excellent track record and bring the work on nitric oxide and the fuel tracers towards closure. The project also has an educational objective. The project will allow the graduate students involved to benefit from performing research in another country. They will develop a heightened appreciation of the world around them while also learning important new technical skills.