Perspectives on instrumentation development for chemical species tomography in reactive-flow diagnosis

Chemical species tomography (CST) has been deployed in a wide range of applications in the last two decades for multi-dimensional measurement of gaseous flow fields. CST offers unique capability for spatiotemporally resolved imaging of multiple thermochemical parameters. It is fundamentally robust, highly sensitive, and adaptable to industrial processes and large-scale combustion systems. The instrumentation methods used to implement CST measurements are critical in determining the physical and chemical variables that may be imaged by CST. In this perspective, we have three main objectives: (a) discuss recent advances in CST instruments from the viewpoint of optics and electronics; (b) highlight the on-going challenges for systems to address the ever-increasing requirements on temporal and spatial resolutions; and (c) consider potential developments for next-generation CST instrumentation.