Infrared Imagery Applied to A Large Buoyant Plume

Abstract

The possibility of applying infrared imagery to the study of a large, hot plume materialized by carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of fuel oil is investigated. In a specific case (the PROSERPINE experiment), due to the high carbon particle content, the lower part of the plume acts as a semi-opaque target. Using an infrared camera equipped with a detector sensitive in the 2?5.8 ?m band, the thermal images are found to yield a plume geometry in good agreement with visible contours retrieved from visible photographs. Thermal images provide access to the internal structure of a plume, down to scales which depend on the plume opacity. It appears that IR imagery is able to yield improved information concerning the turbulent fields of motion and temperature.