38th AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference<br>In conjunction with the<br>16th AIAA 2007-4622

25 - 28 June 2007, Miami, FL

A Centrifugal Spray Singlet Oxygen Generator for

a Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser

Jarmila Kodymová* , Otomar Špalek, Jan Hrubý †, Vít Jirásek, and Miroslav Censký ‡
Institute of Physics of Academy of Sciences CR, Prague, Czech Republic

We suggested and investigated theoretically and experimentally a novel concept of

singlet oxygen generator (SOG), a centrifugal spray generator, for driving a chemical
oxygen-iodine laser (COIL). This generator operates with a conventional gas-liquid chemical
reaction of chlorine and basic hydrogen peroxide (BHP) similarly as a jet or rotating disk
generator employed hitherto in the COIL technology, however, it could be parametrically a
better-class device. Due to a larger interface area for the reaction in a droplet spray system,
and an efficient separation of exhausted BHP liquid from generated singlet oxygen, O2 (1∆g ),
by the centrifugal force, a high O2(1∆g ) partial pressure at a high total pressure in the
generator should be attained under optimal conditions. Further, its operation should be
independent on the generator frame acceleration and gravitation, required for mobile COIL
units.

I. Introduction

A chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) is the shortest wavelength chemical laser scalable to a very high power,
radiating in the near infrared region between the first electronic state, I(2P1/2 ) and the ground state I(2 P1/2 ), of
iodine atom
I(2 P1/2) → I(2P3/2) + hν (1.315 µm) (1)

The laser is pumped by the energy transferred from electronically excited oxygen in the singlet delta state, O2 (1 ∆g),
exhausted in this process into the ground state, O2(3Σ g),

O2 (1 ∆g) + I( 2P3/2 ) → O2(3Σ g) + I( 2P 1/2) (2)

Singlet oxygen for pumping a powerful COIL is attainable in required concentrations and pressures only by a gas-
liquid chemical reaction of chlorine and basic hydrogen peroxide (BHP)

Cl2 + H 2 O2 + 2KOH → O2 (1 ∆g) + 2KCl + 2H2 O (3)

The reaction (3) represents a multistage gas-liquid surface process demanding certain experimental conditions
mainly due to its strong exothermic character (113 kJ/mol Cl2), very fast reaction rate ( k3 ≥108 m3 /kmol/s), and a very
short O2(1 ∆g) lifetime (∼2 µs) in aqueous solutions. Over the years, different technical solutions have been suggested
for a configuration of the singlet oxygen generator (SOG) devices, from a bubbler (sparger), through a wetted wall,
aerosol, and uniform droplet type. The supersonic COIL systems could be deve loped when a technology for the
high-pressure rotating disk SOG1 and the jet SOG2 becomes available. The generators with a twisted aerosol flow3
was also proposed and used. Blauer et al.4 investigated a spray SOG with ~30 µm-BHP droplets, however, they
generated the O2 (1 ∆g) pressure of several Torr only. Muto et al.5 studied a mist generator with 15 µm-BHP droplets
generating thus a rather high O2 (1 ∆g) yield (0.8) at high chlorine utilization (0.8), together with a relatively high
BHP utilization (0.42); the O2 (1∆g) pressure however was also rather low (4 Torr). Supersonic COIL devices operate

*
Dr., Department of Chemical Lasers, Na Slovance 2, 182 21 Prague 8, CR, kodym@fzu.cz, AIAA member
†
Dr., Permanent address: Institute of Thermomechanics AS CR, Prague, Dolejškova 5, 182 21 Prague 8, CR
‡
Drs., Department of Chemical Lasers, Na Slovance 2, 182 21 Prague 8, CR
1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Copyright © 2007 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.