Imaging pyrometry for most color cameras using a triple pass filter

Area of Science:

• * Optical Engineering
• * Combustion Science
• * Digital Image Processing

Background:

• * Traditional pyrometry often requires specialized, expensive equipment.
• * Commercial digital cameras possess advanced imaging capabilities suitable for scientific applications.
• * Color Filter Arrays (CFAs) in digital cameras offer potential for multi-spectral analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To adapt commercial digital color cameras for non-contact temperature measurement.
• * To develop a cost-effective imaging pyrometer system for flames and explosions.
• * To leverage existing camera hardware with optical filters and image processing algorithms.

Main Methods:

• * Integration of a triple-pass optical filter into a commercial camera lens to isolate three specific spectral bands.
• * Utilizing the camera's Color Filter Array (CFA) and sensor for multi-spectral light detection.
• * Development of algorithms for spectral overlap correction, intensity calibration, and temperature image reconstruction using Wien's approximation.

Main Results:

• * Demonstrated successful adaptation of commercial cameras as imaging pyrometers.
• * Achieved temperature measurements with reasonable accuracy (±10%) for temperatures ranging from 1200 K to 6000 K.
• * Validated the system's effectiveness through temperature measurements of known systems.

Conclusions:

• * A simple, cost-effective method for high-temperature measurement using readily available digital cameras has been developed.
• * The described technique effectively utilizes CFA and digital image processing for pyrometric applications.
• * This approach offers a promising tool for scientific research in flames, explosions, and other high-temperature phenomena.