UC Riverside

High-temperature, multi-phase reactions in energetic composites present significant challenges in understanding their chemical processes and underlying mechanisms. These systems often involve rapid, heterogeneous reactions which require temporally and spatially resolved diagnostic tools. To address this need, this work develops a dual-camera system that integrates hyperspectral emission spectroscopy and three-color pyrometry, enabling simultaneous, high-speed measurements of gas-phase and condensed-phase temperatures. One camera captures RGB video for three-color pyrometry, while the other captures emission spectra using a slit-array mask and diffraction grating system. The slit-array mask is designed to achieve spatial coverage, allowing for 2D gas-phase temperature profiling. Gas-phase temperatures are derived using emission spectra based on Boltzmann equation, utilizing the intensity ratios of potassium emission lines near 580 nm and 693 nm. Demonstration experiments were conducted using 3D-printed Al-KClO4 thermites with varying equivalence ratios, revealing maximum gas-phase temperatures of 3300–3700 K, and condensed-phase temperatures about 2800 K. The gas-phase temperatures closely align with the material’s adiabatic flame temperatures, and the condensed phase temperatures of aluminum droplets are close to aluminum boiling point (2743 K). This diagnostic system offers significant advancements in the study of energetic materials by enabling synchronous, high-speed measurements of gas-phase and condensed-phase temperature distributions. Its capability for 2D profiling and adaptability to other high-temperature reaction systems represents a critical step forward in advancing fundamental research on energetic materials and combustion. The outcome of this work lays the foundation for exploring thermal dynamics and chemical kinetics in energetic composites, facilitating the design of nanostructured energetic materials.