High-response on-line gas analysis system for hydrogen-reaction combustion products

The results of testing an on-line quadrupole gas analyzer system are reported. Gas samples were drawn from the exhaust of a hydrogen-oxygen-nitrogen rocket which simulated the flow composition and dynamics at the combustor exit of a supersonic combustion ramjet engine. System response time of less than 50 milliseconds was demonstrated, with analytical accuracy estimated to be + or - 5 percent. For more complex chemical systems with interfering atom patterns, analysis would be more difficult. A cooled-gas pyrometer probe was evaluated as a total temperature indicator and as the primary mass flow measuring element for the total sample flow rate.