Simultaneous diode-laser-based in situ measurement of liquid water content and oxygen mole fraction in dense water mist environments

Abstract

We performed what we believe are the first simultaneous in situ measurements of liquid water and oxygen concentrations in a dense water mist environment. Direct absorption tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy was used to make oxygen concentrations and simultaneously quantify the liquid water via optical density measurements. This spectrometer with an absorption path length of only 36.8 cm was successfully tested during full-scale fire suppression tests with scattering losses up to 99.9%. The simultaneous oxygen and liquid water concentration measurements agree with fire suppression model calculations.