Droplet lasing spectroscopy (DLS) has been applied to the measurement of dr
oplet size and vaporization rates in both reacting and non-reacting rectili
near droplet streams. A Berglund-Liu droplet generator was used to generate
a stream of droplets, approximately 63 microns in diameter and 6.5 droplet
diameters apart. Ethanol, methanol, and a pentane/ethanol mixture were dop
ed with Rhodamine 6G. Lasing spectra were examined in the steady-state comb
ustion regime. In the pentane/ethanol case the measurements were carried ou
t in a sooting region of the flame. In some cases, vaporization rates were
high enough to measure the rate from consecutive droplets, yielding a quasi
-instantaneous measurement. In all cases, the D-2 law of droplet vaporizati
on was evident. In addition, photographs of the flames yielded measurements
of flame height and thickness. (C) 1999 by The Combustion Institute.