Sparse regularization-based reconstruction for 3D flamechemiluminescence tomography

Flame chemiluminescence tomography (FCT) is a non-intrusive method that is based on using cameras to measure projections, and it plays a crucial role in combustion diagnostics and measurement. Mathematically, the inversion problem is ill-posed, and in the case of limited optical accessibility in practical applications, it is rank deficient. Therefore, the solution process should ideally be supported by prior information, which can be based on the known physics. In this work, the total variation (TV) regularization has been combined with the well-known algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) for practical FCT applications. The TV method endorses smoothness while also preserving typical flame features such as the flame front. Split Bregman iteration has been adopted for TV minimization. Five different noise conditions and the chosen regularization parameter have been tested in numerical studies. Additionally, for the 12 perspectives, an experimental FCT system is demonstrated, which is utilized to recover the three-dimensional (3D) chemiluminescence distribution of candle flames. Both the numerical and experimental studies show that the typical line artifacts that appear with the conventional ART algorithm when recovering the continuous chemiluminescence field of the flames are significantly reduced with the proposed algorithm.