VATIS UPDATE Article

Researchers from the Centre for Fire, Explosive & Environment Safety (CFEES), Defence R & D Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India, studied the suppression of infrared signature of hot exhaust plumes. The IR suppressant considered in the study is water mist. The objective of the study was to explore and assess the efficacy of poly-disperse water mist for infrared signature suppression applications.

For this purpose, a series of experiment is conducted on a lab scale experimental facility. The computational modeling and simulation work is carried out using Ansys Fluent v12.0 commercial code. The optimization of ­water mist parameters like droplet size, injection velocity, injection configuration and type of atomizer etc. with respect to infrared signature attenuation is included in the study.

The radiation attenuation of up to 67% is obtained using water mist injection. That means the water mist has remarkable ability to shelter the infrared radiation from the hot exhaust plume. This study suggests the use of appropriate poly-disperse water mist for IR suppression ­applications. The preliminary results suggest that a mist based plume cooling system is highly efficient in suppressing the IR signal strength. The research has been published in the International Journal of Engineering Inventions.