The group employs a variety of facilities for studying fundamental gasdynamics, combustion, and kinetic phenomena. Three shock tubes are used for studying kinetics. An aerosol shock tube is used to investigate droplet shockwave interaction. A high-pressure burner is used to study combustion and develop diagnostics under conditions similiar to those in gas turbine engines. A laboratory-scale pulse detonation engine (PDE) is used for the development of laser diagnostics for PDEs. Finally, an expansion tube is used to study supersonic flows.
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The high pressure shock tube gives the Hanson Group the capacity for testing at 1000 atm.
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This shock tube, sponsored by NASA, is capable of precise ignition time measurements.
It is the facility where Professor Hanson did his doctoral work.
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The kinetics tube is capable of near-ideal, constant-volume experiment conditions.
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The aerosol shock tube is able to measure pyrolysis and ignition delay in low-vapor-pressure fuels such as biodiesel and jet fuel.
It is also the lab's primary facility for planar laser-induced flourescence (PLIF) studies.
Finally, the facility is used for studies of biological spore breakup at high temperatures and pressures.
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The expansion tube is used for fast-framing Schlieren spikes and for planar laser-induced flourescence.
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The pulse detonation engine is used to study gas temperature, species, and velocity in a precision combustion environment.
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The high pressure burner is capable of laminar flames in pressures of up to 60 bar.
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The high uniformity tube furnace facility provides the ideal environment for quantitative measurements of absorption spectra and spectral parameters (line strength, line-broadening coefficients, etc.).
It is also provides controlled conditions for sensor validations.
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