SPECTRAL ENERGIES LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DTRA182-003

Description

There is a need to improve the understanding of physical and chemical processes involved in the evolution of chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulant aerosols and vapors that are interacting with combustion, deflagration, and detonation products. However, the measurement of aerosols and vapors is very challenging because of limited knowledge of the photophysics at varying temperatures and pressures, spatial scales that span nm to cm, time scales from ns to ms, and 2D-3D multiphase phenomena. The proposed Phase II work will develop and transition high-fidelity diagnostics of simulant aerosols and vapors at high temperatures and pressures through five innovations that overcome these critical challenges. These include (1) differentiation of CWA simulant aerosol and vapor signals during single droplet evaporation, (2) improved photophysical understanding of CWA simulants at relevant temperatures and pressures, (3) extension of line-of-sight long-wave infrared (LWIR) absorption spectroscopy to multiple paths, laser sheets, and tomography, (4) application to mass flux measurements at the exit of fireball enclosures for DTRA applications, and (5) well characterized testing facilities and analytical tools for development of commercial instruments for rapid characterization of simulant aerosols and vapors.