Keywords
Raman spectroscopy, Machine learning, Gaseous measurements, Hydrogen, Helium
Abstract
Rocket engine testing facilities play a crucial role in the advancement of space travel and exploration technologies. They offer a controlled environment where highly toxic propellants and extremely volatile engines can be properly stored, studied, and maintained. With such a dangerous facility, safety must be of the utmost importance throughout every aspect of the testing. After an engine has been evaluated, helium is used to purge the facility of these dangerous species. A global helium shortage is forcing greater conservation efforts to be initiated, especially during this purging process. Raman spectroscopy has shown to be an effective form of gaseous species detection and identification. This work showcases the development of a Raman spectroscopy-based safety device for speciation of various gases during this helium purging process. Raman scattering measurements were taken of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and two natural gas mixtures at varying pressures and concentrations in helium dilution. Two high-pressure experimental setups were designed and built to support the extreme testing conditions required for these measurements. The spectral measurements were then pre-processed to be fed into a principal component analysis (PCA) machine learning model. Through supervised learning, the model will be able to correlate spectral features to user defined rotational or vibrational bands of the varying species of interest. The assistance of machine learning with Raman spectroscopy data has shown to improve the accuracy and inference time of the spectra providing precise identification and quantification of gaseous particles. This dataset was recorded to provide the model with a wide range of conditions to be suitable for measurements in a rocket engine testing environment.
Completion Date
2025
Semester
Fall
Committee Chair
Vasu Sumathi, Subith
Degree
Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering (M.S.A.E.)
College
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Department
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Release Date
12-15-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
Subjects
Rockets (Aeronautics)--Fuel--Analysis; Rocket engines--Testing; Gases--Spectra--Measurement; Raman spectroscopy--Industrial applications; Rocket engines--Research
STARS Citation
Hulliger, Nikolas Lucas, "Characterization of a Raman Spectroscopy Device for Gaseous Measurements in a Rocket Engine Testing Facility" (2025). Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024. 531.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2024/531
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