Quantitative Characterization of Flame Color and Its Application : Introduction of CIE 1931 Standard Colorimetric System

The study on quantitative characterization of flame colors was carried out by using the chromaticity coordinates (x, y) defined by the CIE 1931 standard colorimetric system. Propane/air premixed flames were used in the study. It was found that the coordinates could characterize the colors of flames with various air ratios and contained information about the spectral intensity of CH and C2 radicals in the flames. These results suggest that flame colors, which had previously been considered qualitative because of their dependence on fallible human perception, can be used to evaluate flame behavior quantitatively. There is a good possibility that the measurement of the colors is applicable to combustion control and monitoring systems.