A Feasibility Study of Pulsed Chemical Laser Ignition by Very Rapid Infrared Absorption Heating
Abstract
The theoretical problem of pulsed chemical laser ignition by very rapid infrared laser absorption heating is investigated. It is found that for single-phase systems, the only hope for ever achieving energy gain appears to lie in the utilization of long or fast-branching chemical chains in the pumping reactions. For the hydrogen-halide system, the usable chain length is severely limited by the very rapid collisional de-excitation rate of the vibrational states by the reaction product molecules, making positive energy gain very unlikely. In two-phase systems, however, one may try to utilize the large amount of combustion energy release from burning of finely dispersed, submicron size solid particles for generation of additional atoms required in the pumping of the laser reactions. The reduced input energy requirement for generating a fixed number of active atoms in such two-phase system may improve the prospect for achieving positive energy gain in multistage pulsed chemical laser applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0902396
Entities
People
- C. C. Chen
- Stanley Lin