Ignition mechanisms of pulse detonator initiated scramjet cavity

A fueled cavity in a supersonic crossflow was ignited via a pulse detonator (PD) producing detonation waves that were then decoupled to produce varying degrees of shock-flame separation at the exit of the PD tube. This decoupling allowed for observation of the cavity ignition mechanism, and the key parameters required for successful cavity ignition were identified. Measurements were made using high-frame-rate OH Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) and schlieren and chemiluminescence imaging. It was shown that the entrainment of high-temperature intermediate species into the forward region of the cavity, immediately behind the step, is the principal criterion for cavity ignition. Both coupled and slightly decoupled detonation cases induced significant OH shedding into the step region, leading to ignition and flame stabilization within the cavity. At conditions where OH shedding into the step region did not occur, cavity ignition was not observed. In coupled and slightly decoupled cases, there is more shedding of OH behind the step due to the greater disturbances created in the flowfield. As the degree of detonation decoupling increases, there is less shedding of OH and therefore a lower likelihood of ignition. Additionally, the time required for cavity combustion to reach its steady-state condition varied with the degree of decoupling of the detonation. Coupled detonation cases were shown to be more disruptive to the cavity and thus required more time to reach steady state than the decoupled cases.     

Fast ignition by detonation in a hydrodynamic flow

A general concept of fast ignition by a hydrodynamic pulse is developed. The main statements of the concept are formulated having in mind the need to ignite the pre-compressed thermonuclear fuel of the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target. Initially, combustion must be initiated inside the hydrodynamic flow during its action on the target. The conditions for propagating a self-sustaining thermonuclear-detonation wave from an igniter on the thermonuclear fuel of the ICF-target must be provided. For this, the deuterium–tritium (DT) igniter placed in the forward part of the hydrodynamic flow should not only be heated up to thermonuclear temperature, but also compressed to a density close to the density of the ICF-target fuel. It is shown that the detonation of the multilayer conical target (containing DT-ice and a heavy pusher) enables fast ignition of the ICF target fuel of 200–500 g/cm³ density at an implosion velocity of 300–500 km/s.     

Performance enhancement of a pulse detonation rocket engine

Utilizing liquid kerosene as the fuel, oxygen as oxidizer and nitrogen as purge gas, a series of multi-cycle detonation experiments was conducted to improve the performance of pulse detonation rocket engine (PDRE). In order to improve the performance of the engine, it is crucial to develop an effective DDT enhancement device with less flow loss and higher survival in hostile detonation tube; therefore, three spiraling internal grooves were tested. The three spiraling internal grooves were semicircle, square and inversed-triangle grooves, respectively. The results showed that the spiraling internal groove can effectively enhance DDT and prolong the operation time of PDRE. The effect of groove shape on thrust enhancement of PDRE and the optimum length of spiraling groove were then investigated. To improve the detonability of liquid kerosene and prolong the durability of PDRE, experiments on the kerosene preheating based on active cooling were conducted. The results demonstrated that with the aid of fuel preheating, the detonation initiation time for liquid kerosene was noticeably reduced and a fully-developed detonation wave was achieved in the position away from igniter 4.67 times the diameter of the detonation tube. By adding the additive to liquid kerosene, the detonation initiation time from 0.75 ms decreased to 0.34 ms and the detonability of fuel was dramatically improved. Finally, experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the operating frequency on the detonation parameters, the fill fraction and PDRE performance. The results indicated that detonation pressure and temperature vary with the operating frequency of PDRE, and the fill fraction has a significant influence on the specific impulse of PDRE. With the strategy of partial filling in detonation tube, the specific impulse can be remarkably enhanced.     

Experimental study on energy characteristics and ignition performance of recessed multichannel plasma igniter

In the extreme conditions of high altitude, low temperature, low pressure, and high speed, the aircraft engine is prone to flameout and difficult to start secondary ignition, which makes reliable ignition of combustion chamber at high altitude become a worldwide problem. To solve this problem, a kind of multichannel plasma igniter with round cavity is proposed in this paper, the three-channel and five-channel igniters are compared with the traditional ones. The discharge energy of the three igniters was compared based on the electric energy test and the thermal energy test, and ignition experiments was conducted in the simulated high-altitude environment of the component combustion chamber. The results show that the recessed multichannel plasma igniter has higher discharge energy than the conventional spark igniter, which can increase the conversion efficiency of electric energy from 26% to 43%, and the conversion efficiency of thermal energy from 25% to73%. The recessed multichannel plasma igniter can achieve greater spark penetration depth and excitation area, which both increase with the increase of height. At the same height, the inlet flow helps to increase the penetration depth of the spark.The recessed multichannel plasma igniter can widen the lean ignition boundary, and the maximum enrichment percentage of lean ignition boundary can reach 31%.     

冷等离子体放电区长度对爆震特性影响的实验研究

快速高效的起爆对脉冲爆震发动机工作特性的作用十分关键.文章以乙炔为燃料、空气为氧化剂,使用双爆震管研究冷等离子体和火花塞两种点火方式对起爆特性的影响规律.冷等离子体发生器采用自主设计产品,研究中通过改变冷等离子体放电区长度,测试爆震波的传播过程,给出了放电区体积大小对爆震特性的影响.实验结果表明:冷等离子体点火起爆特性明显优于火花塞;在基本保证放电功率不变时,放电区长度的变化对火焰传播时间、火焰传播速度、爆震波峰值压力影响不大.因此,在工程实践中,采用小区域放电能够减少冷等离子的体积且不影响起爆性能.      

Flame dynamics under various backpressures in a model scramjet with and without a cavity flameholder

Flame dynamics under various backpressure conditions were experimentally investigated using direct flame visualization, high-speed CH* chemiluminescence imaging, and wall pressure measurements. The stagnation pressure and temperature used in the present study were 100 kPa and 2500 K, respectively, with a freestream Mach number of 4.5. Rectangular scramjet models with and without a cavity were used to explore the effects of the cavity on flame dynamics when operating in scramjet mode, ramjet mode, and unstart. The flow rate of the ethylene jet was varied to impose backpressures corresponding to each operation mode. For both models, reverse flame propagation was observed for ramjet mode and unstart. For ramjet mode, flame fluctuation occurred within the isolator due to the coupling of fluid dynamics and combustion. The presence of a cavity enhanced combustion and reduced flame fluctuation in both scram and ramjet mode. The cavity promoted unstart because of the greater heat release from combustion. Further research using spatially resolved diagnostic techniques is needed to identify the flame locations for ramjet mode and unstart.     

Spatio-temporal evolution of cavity ignition in supersonic flow

Successful ignition in the recirculating flow of a scramjet flame holder can be highly dependent upon the location of energy deposition because of the spatial variation of fuel concentration and flow properties. The current work experimentally investigated ignition processes when energy was deposited (～100 mJ) via a spark discharge at four locations in the base of a cavity or by laser-induced breakdown in a Mach 2 flow with a stagnation temperature and pressure of 590 K and 483 kPa, respectively. The cavity was directly fueled with ethylene injection. The time dependent heat release was imaged at 40,000 frames per second and fuel concentration and distribution measurements were taken in the cavity prior to ignition. The average fuel concentration at the lean and rich ignition limits near the energy deposition locations measured 4.4–9.3% (Φ= 0.75 to 1.47). Energy deposition near the cavity step resulted in near immediate ignition kernel development and rapid achievement of self-sustained flame propagation in the front of the cavity, often faster than the bulk recirculation time of the cavity, leading to a spike in heat release. Energy deposition away from the cavity step region led to competition between local flow velocity, fuel concentration, and flame propagation rates. Ignition kernels formed along the floor of the cavity towards the closeout ramp and were rapidly advected towards the cavity step region before flame propagation could ensue. The fastest and most robust ignition events for all fueling cases showed rapid spanwise flame propagation near the cavity step.     

The influence of the state of a compressed thermonuclear substance on the combustion of inertial fusion targets under direct ignition by a short radiation pulse

One-dimensional numerical calculations were performed to study the dependence of conditions for initiating thermonuclear combustion and of the target gain of direct-ignition inertial fusion targets ignited by a short radiation pulse on the initial temperature of a preliminarily compressed fuel and the initial heat energy distribution between plasma electrons and ions in the ignition region (igniter). The igniter parameters at which an effective thermonuclear target explosion with a G ～ 10³ target gain occurred were shown to substantially depend on the initial temperature of the major fuel fraction and the initial heat energy distribution between igniter electrons and ions. The heat energy of the igniter passed a minimum as the size of the igniter decreased. The dependences of these minimum energies on the temperature of the major fuel fraction at various initial energy distributions between igniter electrons and ions were determined. An increase in the temperature of the major fuel fraction was shown to decrease the target gain.     

煤油氧气脉冲爆震火箭发动机爆震特性

脉冲爆震火箭发动机(PDRE)是一种利用脉冲式爆震波产生高温、高压燃气发出的冲量来产生推力的推进系统.与常规液体火箭发动机相比,脉冲爆震火箭发动机具有更高的性能,并且结构更简单.本文以航空煤油为燃料、氧气为氧化剂、压缩氮气为隔离气体,并利用电磁阀控制燃料、氧化剂和隔离气体的间歇式供给.利用低的点火能量(50mJ),在内径50mm,长度1.1m的爆震管内进行了大量的多循环爆震试验,研究煤油氧气电磁阀脉冲爆震火箭发动机的爆震波特性.研究结果为进一步研究气液两相多次爆震燃烧机理提供了依据,为研制工程应用的PDRE提供理论和实践基础.     

Piloted ignition of solid fuels at low ambient pressure and varying igniter location

In order to investigate the effects of ambient pressure and igniter location on piloted ignition of solid fuels, the ignition mass flux of PMMA was experimentally determined for locations of the igniter between 6 and 70 mm above the solid surface, under two external heat fluxes of 21.2 and 25.4 kW/m². The experimental results show that the ignition mass flux decreases as the igniter approached the solid surface until it reached a minimum, and then the ignition mass flux remains nearly constant followed by a slight increase with a further decrease of the igniter location. In addition, in another series of experiments the ignition mass flux for elm wood decreases by a factor 0.6 at reduced pressure 0.67 (Tibet 0.67 atm) compared to the ignition mass flux at normal pressure (Hefei, 1.0 atm). The results of this work are explained well by a numerical piloted ignition model which also explains recent observations on the ignition mass flux at reduced pressures in a forced-flow ignition and flame spread apparatus.     

空气中激光支持爆轰波实验及理论分析

为了研究激光击穿空气产生的等离子体爆轰波形成机制和传播规律,利用高能量CO2激光器产生强激光,进行了空气中产生激光支持等离子体爆轰波实验。实验中:设置了诱导靶板,用于诱发和定位空气中的激光支持爆轰波;以激光器升压过程球隙放电产生的光信号作为触发源,触发高时间分辨率(纳秒级)的高速相机,记录了激光支持爆轰波的成长和传播全过程。分析了激光支持爆轰波的形成机理和传播规律。采用C-J爆轰理论,计算了激光支持爆轰波的压力和温度。研究结果表明:激光支持等离子体爆轰波形成初期,等离子体爆轰波发光体为球形;随着时间增加,等离子体爆轰波发光体的形状类似流星,且头部为等离子体前沿吸收层,亮度较高,而尾部等离子体温度较低,亮度较弱。等离子体爆轰波高速向激光源的方向移动,爆轰波速度高达18 km/s,温度约为107K。随着激光强度的减弱,爆轰波速度迅速按指数规律衰减,当爆轰波吸收的激光能量不能有效支持爆轰波传播时,爆轰波转变为冲击波。     

Piloted ignition and extinction for solid fuels

Piloted ignition of solid fuels is investigated by simulating the transport and chemical reaction in a counter-flow arrangement where a known fuel (methane) is supplied through a porous burner and the power and the location of the igniter are varied. The porous burner arrangement simulates a pyrolyzing solid fuel at constant temperature by separating the gas phase from the solid conduction and pyrolysis phenomena. An Arrhenius one-step global reaction and a simplified transport model with Lewis number equal to one were used in the simulation. Only quasi-steady conditions are considered for the gas phase in this work because the response time for the solid phenomena is, in general, much larger than the response diffusion time for the gaseous phenomena. The relation of piloted ignition to extinction is also investigated. The effect of Damköhler number on ignition and extinction and the effect of the igniter on ignition are presented through a characteristic S curve obtained by plotting the evolving maximum temperature as a function of fuel mass flux. Based on the S-shaped curve (representing the maximum temperature in the system versus the mass flux of fuel), the relationship between the piloted ignition and extinction turning points and mass fluxes has been demonstrated in this paper. The piloted ignition turning point gradually approaches the extinction turning point with increasing Damköhler number and also with increasing power of the igniter. The ignition mass flux is found to depend basically on three parameters, Damköhler number, the location of the igniter and the power of the igniter all expressed in dimensionless forms.     

DDT管材料对颗粒状RDX床燃烧转爆轰（DDT）影响的实验研究

 采用盖帽探针、离子探针实验研究了点火药点燃时,DDT管材料变化（钢和铝）对颗粒状RDX床的燃烧转爆轰的影响。     

Numerical simulation and laser-based imaging of mixture formation, ignition, and soot formation in a diesel spray

Laser-based imaging of fuel vapor distribution, ignition, and soot formation in diesel sprays was carried out in a high-pressure, high-temperature spray chamber under conditions that correspond to temperature and pressure in a diesel engine. Rayleigh scattering and laser-induced incandescence are used to image fuel density and soot volume fraction. The experimental results provide data for comparison with numerical simulations. An interactive cross-sectionally averaged spray model based on Eulerian transport equations was used for the simulation of the spray, and the turbulence-chemistry interaction was modeled with the representative interactive flamelet (RIF) concept. The flamelet calculation is coupled to the Kiva3V computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code using the scalar dissipation rate and pressure as an input to the RIF-code. The flamelet code computes the instationary flamelet profiles for every time step. These profiles were integrated over mixture fraction space using a prescribed β-PDF to obtain mean values, which are passed back to the CFD-code. Thereby, the temperature and the relevant species in each CFD-cell were obtained. The fuel distribution, the average ignition delay as well as the location of ignition are well predicted by the simulation. Furthermore, simulations show that the experimentally observed injection-to-injection variations in ignition delay are due to temperature inhomogeneities. Experimental and simulated spatial soot and fuel vapor density distributions are compared during and after second stage ignition.     

超燃冲压发动机推进性能理论分析

超燃冲压发动机的正推力问题和超声速燃烧的稳定性问题是制约超燃冲压发动机发展的两个关键气动物理问题.虽然经过50多年的研究,但是目前国内外对这两个关键问题的机理还没有研究清楚.文章首次将CJ爆轰理论应用于超燃冲压发动机推进性能分析,给出了这两个关键气动问题的理论分析结果.分析结果表明,燃烧室入口空气静温对发动机的推进性能产生重要影响.当爆轰波的爆速大于隔离段内空气来流的速度时,会向隔离段上游传播,导致发动机不起动.飞行Mach数Ma=6~8是超燃发动机的临界不稳定范围,飞行Mach数Ma>9,超声速燃烧将变得稳定.      

Influence of chemical kinetics on spontaneous waves and detonation initiation in highly reactive and low reactive mixtures

Understanding the mechanisms of explosions is important for minimising devastating hazards. Due to the complexity of real chemistry, a single-step reaction mechanism is usually used for theoretical and numerical studies. The purpose of this study is to look more deeply into the influence of chemistry on detonation initiated by a spontaneous wave. The results of high-resolution simulations performed for one-step models are compared with simulations for detailed chemical models for highly reactive and low reactive mixtures. The calculated induction times for H₂/air and for CH₄/air are validated against experimental measurements for a wide range of temperatures and pressures. It is found that the requirements in terms of temperature and size of the hot spots, which can produce a spontaneous wave capable to initiate detonation, are quantitatively and qualitatively different for one-step models compared to detailed chemical models. The time and locations when the exothermic reaction affects the coupling between the pressure wave and spontaneous wave are considerably different for a one-step and detailed models. The temperature gradients capable to produce detonation and the corresponding size of hot spots are much shallower and, correspondingly, larger than those predicted using one-step models. The impact of the detailed chemical model is particularly pronounced for the methane-air mixture. In this case, not only the hot spot size is much greater than that predicted by a one-step model, but even at the elevated pressure, the initiation of detonation by a temperature gradient is possible only if the temperature outside the gradient is rather high, so that can ignite a thermal explosion. The obtained results suggest that the one-step models do not reproduce correctly the transient and ignition processes, so that interpretation of the simulations performed using a one-step model for understanding mechanisms of flame acceleration, DDT and the origin of explosions must be considered with great caution.     

Influence of spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of compressed ICF-target parameters on fast ignition efficiency

The fast ignition as, possibly the most efficient method of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is based on heating a small fusion initiation region (igniter) while the rest of the target is compressed by a compressing driver. We investigate the influence of two factors on the efficiency of fast ignition of ICF-targets. The first factor is the spatial distribution of thermonuclear-fuel parameters formed due to the ICF-target irradiation by the compressing driver. The second one is a mismatch in the time moments of the target maximum compression and the igniter heating by the igniting driver. The main characteristics of fast ignition, namely, the minimum energy of igniter needed to ignite the main ICF-target fuel (ignition energy) and the burn efficiency (ratio between the burnt and initial fuel masses), are investigated in view of numerical simulation. The scale-invariant dependences of the minimum ignition energy E _ig and the burn efficiency are obtained. It is shown that the burn efficiency depends on the spatial heterogeneity of the thermonuclear-fuel parameters much weaker then the ignition energy, but a strong dependence of the burn efficiency on the mismatch in time moments of the maximum compression and ignition is found. In particular, the ignition before the time moment of the maximum compression is more favorable than the ignition at just this moment.     

Numerical studies on autoignition and detonation development from a hot spot in hydrogen/air mixtures

Detonation development inside spark ignition engines can result in the so called super-knock with extremely high pressure oscillation above 200?atm. In this study, numerical simulations of autoignitive reaction front propagation in hydrogen/air mixtures are conducted and the detonation development regime is investigated. A hot spot with linear temperature distribution is used to induce autoignitive reaction front propagation. With the change of temperature gradient or hot spot size, three typical autoignition reaction front modes are identified: supersonic reaction front; detonation development and subsonic reaction front. The effects of initial pressure, initial temperature, fuel type and equivalence ratio on detonation development regime are examined. It is found that the detonation development regime strongly depends on mixture composition (fuel and equivalence ratio) and thermal conditions (initial pressure and temperature). Therefore, to achieve the quantitative prediction of super-knock in engines, we need use the detonation development regime for specific fuel at specific initial temperature, initial pressure, and equivalence ratio.     

Kinetic analysis of n-decane–hydrogen blend combustion in premixed and non-premixed supersonic flows

Numerical analysis of ignition and combustion of an n-decane–hydrogen fuel blend in a premixed supersonic flow and in a model scramjet duct is performed using a reduced reaction mechanism built especially to describe the oxidation of blended n-C₁₀H₂₂–H₂ fuel in air at the temperature T₀ > 900–1000 K in the pressure range P₀ = 0.1–13 atm. The developed kinetic mechanism involves the principal reactions responsible for chain mechanism development both for n-decane and for hydrogen oxidation. It has been shown that using blended n-C₁₀H₂₂–H₂ fuel makes it possible to enhance the ignition and combustion both in premixed and in non-premixed supersonic fuel–air flows compared to burning pure hydrogen–air and n-decane–air mixtures. This allows high combustion completeness in the scramjet duct at the distance of ～1 m even at extremely low air temperature T₀ = 1000 K and pressure P₀ = 0.3 atm. This is due to the interaction of kinetics of the formation of highly reactive atoms and radicals, carriers of chain mechanism, in H₂–air and n-C₁₀H₂₂–air mixtures.     

Effect of methane on pilot-fuel auto-ignition in dual-fuel engines

The ignition behavior of n-dodecane micro-pilot spray in a lean-premixed methane/air charge was investigated in an optically accessible Rapid Compression-Expansion Machine at dual-fuel engine-like pressure/temperature conditions. The pilot fuel was admitted using a coaxial single-hole 100?µm injector mounted on the cylinder periphery. Optical diagnostics include combined high-speed CH₂O-PLIF (10?kHz) and Schlieren (80?kHz) imaging for detection of the first-stage ignition, and simultaneous high-speed OH* chemiluminescence (40?kHz) imaging for high-temperature ignition. The aim of this study is to enhance the fundamental understanding of the interaction of methane with the auto-ignition process of short pilot-fuel injections. Addition of methane into the air charge considerably prolongs ignition delay of the pilot spray with an increasing effect at lower temperatures and with higher methane/air equivalence ratios. The temporal separation of the first CH₂O detection and high-temperature ignition was found almost constant regardless of methane content. This was interpreted as methane mostly deferring the cool-flame reactivity. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms of this interaction, experimental investigations were complemented with 1D-flamelet simulations using detailed chemistry, confirming the chemical influence of methane deferring the reactivity in the pilot-fuel lean mixtures. This shifts the onset of first-stage reactivity towards the fuel-richer conditions. Consequently, the onset of the turbulent cool-flame is delayed, leading to an overall increased high-temperature ignition delay. Overall, the study reveals a complex interplay between entrainment, low T and high T chemistry and micro-mixing for dual-fuel auto-ignition processes for which the governing processes were identified.