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PUBLICATIONS

A Photoacoustic Technique for Measuring Soot Deposition on Surfaces

Published

Author(s)

Ryan Falkenstein-Smith, Amy Mensch

Abstract

This study investigates a soot deposition measurement technique that relies on the photoacoustic effect of soot. A non-invasive and reliable soot deposition measurement tool would be helpful for fire investigators to quantify burn patterns in a fire scene. Soot is deposited on drywall and metal substrates mounted above a 13 kW propene diffusion flame, and the mass load of deposition is measured with gravimetric targets. The soot coated substrates were perturbed with a camera flash of up to 600 J, and the acoustic response of the soot was measured in the form of the peak sound pressure. The results showed a log-based correlation between the acoustic response and the measured soot deposition, a correlation that was dependent on the flash intensity. Notably, the photoacoustic response of soot deposited on both drywall and metal substrates was the same within the experimental uncertainties.
Proceedings Title
Proceedings of the Spring 2024 Meeting of the Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute
Conference Dates
March 10-13, 2024
Conference Location
Athens, GA, US
Conference Title
Eastern States Section Combustion Institute Spring 2024 Technical Meeting
Pub Type
Conferences

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Keywords

photoacoustic, soot deposition
Trace evidence and Fire dynamics and science

Citation

Falkenstein-Smith, R. and Mensch, A. (2024), A Photoacoustic Technique for Measuring Soot Deposition on Surfaces, Proceedings of the Spring 2024 Meeting of the Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute, Athens, GA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957428 (Accessed October 13, 2025)

Issues

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Created March 13, 2024, Updated April 2, 2024
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