氢氧爆轰波在激波管中的成长机制研究

 针对气相爆轰波成长机制研究,采用压力传感器和高速摄影技术,测试了氢氧混合气体在点火后的火焰波、前驱冲击波以及爆轰波的成长变化过程,计算了冲击波过程参数和气体状态参数,分析了火焰加速机制。实验结果表明,APX-RS型高速摄影系统可用于拍摄气相爆轰波的成长历程;氢氧爆轰波的产生是由于湍流火焰和冲击波的相互正反馈作用,导致反应区内多处发生局部爆炸,爆炸波与冲击波相互耦合,最终成长为定常爆轰波。     

Effect of the plasma location on the deflagration-to-detonation transition of a hydrogen–air flame enhanced by nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges

This work presents a method for using nanosecond repetitively pulsed (NRP) plasma discharges for accelerating a propagating flame such that the deflagration-to-detonation transition occurs. A strategy is developed for bringing the location of the plasma near the tube wall and, thus, reducing the presence of the electrodes in the combustion tube as well as presenting a configuration in which cooling of the electrodes is viable for practical applications. Time-of-flight measurements were used in combination with energy deposition measurements and high-speed OH*-chemiluminescence imagery to investigate the flame acceleration process. For stoichiometric hydrogen–air flames, successful transition to detonation was achieved by applying a burst of 110 pulses at 100 kHz, with energies as low as 10 mJ per pulse. This was also achieved when plasma discharges were applied in the vicinity of the wall. Two enhancement mechanisms for flame acceleration were identified. The essential role of shock–flame interaction was established as being the main mechanism for flame acceleration when the discharges are located near the wall. This work presents an effective alternative that allows for NRP discharges to be applied near the wall while successfully maintaining a promising success rate for detonation transition.     

Experimental observations of flame acceleration and transition to detonation following shock-flame interaction

Observations are presented from experiments where laminar flame bubbles were perturbed successively by incident and reflected shock waves. Significant flame acceleration was observed in many instances, with the flame closely coupled to the reflected shock wave. The coupled waves are interpreted using a generalized Hugoniot analysis. As the incident shock velocity increased, detonation emerged near the highly convolved reaction zone. Prior to detonation the external visual attributes of the combustion fronts appear identical to turbulent combustion. However, they cannot be due to classical isotropic turbulence. The overall conclusion is that the observed enhancement of combustion is driven by chemi-acoustic interactions and related gas-dynamic effects. An analysis of the prevailing thermodynamic states suggests that thermal auto-ignition chemistry could also play a significant role prior to the onset of detonation.     

On the mechanism of the deflagration-to-detonation transition in a hydrogen-oxygen mixture

The flame acceleration and the physical mechanism underlying the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) have been studied experimentally, theoretically, and using a two-dimensional gasdynamic model for a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture by taking into account the chain chemical reaction kinetics for eight components. A flame accelerating in a tube is shown to generate shock waves that are formed directly at the flame front just before DDT occurred, producing a layer of compressed gas adjacent to the flame front. A mixture with a density higher than that of the initial gas enters the flame front, is heated, and enters into reaction. As a result, a high-amplitude pressure peak is formed at the flame front. An increase in pressure and density at the leading edge of the flame front accelerates the chemical reaction, causing amplification of the compression wave and an exponentially rapid growth of the pressure peak, which “drags” the flame behind. A high-amplitude compression wave produces a strong shock immediately ahead of the reaction zone, generating a detonation wave. The theory and numerical simulations of the flame acceleration and the new physical mechanism of DDT are in complete agreement with the experimentally observed flame acceleration, shock formation, and DDT in a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture.     

Numerical simulations of flame propagation and DDT in obstructed channels filled with hydrogen–air mixture

We study flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in channels with obstacles using 2D and 3D reactive Navier–Stokes numerical simulations. The energy release rate for the stoichiometric H₂–air mixture is modeled by a one-step Arrhenius kinetics. Computations show that at initial stages, the flame and flow acceleration is caused by thermal expansion of hot combustion products. At later stages, shock–flame interactions, Rayleigh–Taylor, Richtmyer–Meshkov, and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities, and flame–vortex interactions in obstacle wakes become responsible for the increase of the flame surface area, the energy-release rate, and, eventually, the shock strength. Computations performed for different channel widths d with the distance between obstacles d and the constant blockage ratio 0.5 reproduce the main regimes observed in experiments: choking flames, quasi-detonations, and detonations. For quasi-detonations, both the initial DDT and succeeding detonation reignitions occur when the Mach stem, created by the reflection of the leading shock from the bottom wall, collides with an obstacle. As the size of the system increases, the time to DDT and the distance to DDT increase linearly with d². We also observe an intermediate regime of fast flame propagation in which local detonations periodically appear behind the leading shock, but do not reach it.     

Inward-propagating cylindrical flames under different ignition conditions

Inward-propagating cylindrical flames are studied numerically by high-resolution simulations using a one-step Arrhenius kinetics. Emphasis is placed on the effect of shock waves on the flame propagation by setting initial ignition conditions with and without shock wave. It is found that without initial shock wave, the inward-propagating flame propagates initially at a constant speed, while in the later stage of the propagation, it shows a small-amplitude oscillatory motion. When the shock wave initially introduced is medium, a large-amplitude oscillatory motion is caused by the interaction of shock waves with the inward-propagating flame. Moreover, autoignition occurs at the center and develops outwardly into a cellular flame. However, as the introduced shock wave is strong, autoignition created at the center evolves outwardly a cellular detonation.     

Effects of cryogenic temperature on premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation in a closed channel

As a carbon-free fuel, hydrogen has received significant attention recently since it can help enable low-carbon-economy. Hydrogen has very broad flammability range and very low minimum ignition energy, and thereby there are severe safety concerns for hydrogen transportation and utilization. Cryo-compressed hydrogen is popularly used in practice. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the combustion properties of hydrogen at extremely low or cryogenic temperatures. This study aims to assess and interpret the effects of cryogenic temperature on premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation and acceleration in a thin closed channel. Different initial temperatures ranging from normal temperature (T₀ = 300 K) to cryogenic temperature (T₀ = 100 K) are considered. Both one- and two-dimensional hydrogen/air flames are investigated through transient simulations considering detailed chemistry and transport. It is found that when the initial temperature decreases from T₀ = 300 K to T₀ = 100 K, the expansion ratio and equilibrium pressure both increase substantially while the laminar flame speeds relative to unburned and burned gasses decrease moderately. The one-dimensional flame propagation is determined by laminar flame speed and thereby the combustion duration increases as the initial temperature decreases. However, the opposite trend is found to happen to two-dimensional flame propagation, which is mainly controlled by the flame surface area increase due to the no-slip side wall constraint and flame instability. Based on the change in flame surface area, three stages including the initial acceleration, steady burning and rapid acceleration are identified and investigated. It is demonstrated that the large expansion ratio and high pressure rise at cryogenic temperatures can significantly increase the flame surface area in early stage and promote both Darrieus-Landau instability (hydrodynamic instability) and Rayleigh-Taylor instability in later stage. These two instabilities can substantially increase the flame surface area and thereby accelerate flame propagation in hydrogen/air mixtures at cryogenic temperatures. The present study provides useful insights into the fundamental physics of hydrogen flames at extremely low temperatures, and is closely related to hydrogen safety.     

A flame technique to isolate the detonation/product interface relevant to rotating detonation engines

A novel experimental technique is proposed to study the detonation propagation in a layer of non-reacted gas weakly confined by combustion products. This problem is relevant to rotating detonation engines, where transverse detonations are confined by products of a previous rotation cycle, and other applications such as industrial safety. The experimental technique utilizes a flame ignited along the top wall in a long channel. The preferential growth of the flame along the long direction of the channel creates a finger flame and permits to create a narrow layer of unburned gas. A detonation ignited outside of this layer then propagates through the layer. This permits to conduct accurate observations of the detonation interaction with the inert gas and determine the boundary condition of the interaction. The present paper provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique in a 3.4 m by 0.2 m channel, in which long finger flames were observed in ethylene-oxygen mixtures. The flame is visualized by high-speed direct luminosity over its entire travel, coupled with pressure measurements. A direct simulation of the flame growth served to supplement the experiments and evaluate the role of the induced flow by the flame growth, which gives rise to a non-uniform velocity distribution along the channel length. Detonation experiments were also performed at various layer heights in order to establish the details of the interaction. The structure was visualized using high speed Schlieren video. It was found that an inert shock always runs ahead of the detonation wave, which gives rise to a unique double shock reflection interaction.     

The role of spontaneous waves in the deflagration-to-detonation transition in submillimetre channels

Flame acceleration and transition to detonation in submillimetre two-dimensional planar and three-dimensional square channels were simulated by solving the compressible reactive Navier–Stokes equations. A simplified chemical–diffusive model was used to describe the diffusive transport and chemical reaction of a highly reactive mixture, such as stoichiometric ethylene and oxygen in 2D and 3D channels. The walls of the channels were modelled as no-slip and adiabatic. The initial flame acceleration and precursor shock formation were consistent with earlier results. Viscous dissipation in the boundary layer heats the reactants, which have been compressed by the precursor shock. The strength of the precursor shock and the amount of viscous dissipation increase until the temperature of the boundary layer is high enough to ignite the reactants. This produces a spontaneous wave, which, in most of the cases considered, initiates the detonation. The spontaneous wave first forms where the flame attaches to the wall in the planar channels, and forms at the corner where two walls meet in the square channels. In a separate study, the boundary layer also ignited in a computation for a circular tube containing a mixture hydrogen and oxygen represented by a detailed chemical reaction mechanism. The formation of spontaneous waves to the extent studied appears to be robust, and is relatively insensitive to channel geometry, fuel and oxidiser mixture, and the level of detail in the chemical–diffusive models used.     

Enhanced DDT mechanism from shock-flame interactions in thin channels

We show experimentally and numerically that when a weak shock interacts with a finger flame in a narrow channel, an extremely efficient mechanism for deflagration to detonation transition occurs. This is demonstrated in a 19-mm-thick channel in hydrogen-air mixtures at pressures below 0.2 atm and weak shocks of Mach numbers 1.5 to 2. The mechanism relies primarily on the straining of the flame shape into an elongated alligator flame maintained by the anchoring mechanism of Gamezo in a bifurcated lambda shock due to boundary layers. The mechanism can increase the flame surface area by more than two orders of magnitude without any turbulence on the flame time scale. The resulting alligator-shaped flame is shown to saturate near the Chapman–Jouguet condition and further slowly accelerate until its burning velocity reaches the sound speed in the shocked unburned gas. At this state, the lead shock and further adiabatic compression of the gas in the induction zone gives rise to auto-ignition and very rapid transition to detonation through merging of numerous spontaneous flames from ignition spots. The entire acceleration can occur on a time scale comparable to the laminar flame time.     

Flame acceleration and the transition to detonation of stoichiometric ethylene/oxygen in microscale tubes

Flame propagation in capillary tubes with smooth circular cross-sections and diameters of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mm are investigated using high-speed photography. Flames were found to propagate and accelerate to detonation speed in stoichiometric ethylene and oxygen mixtures initially at room temperature in all three tube diameters. Ignition occurs at the midpoint along the length of the tube. We observe for the first time transition to detonation in micro-tubes. Detonation was observed with both spark and hot-wire ignition. Tubes with larger diameters take longer to transition to detonation. In fact, transition distance scales with the diameter in our 1.0 and 2.0 mm cases with spark ignition. Flame structures are observed for various stages of the process. Three types of flame propagation modes were observed in the 0.5 mm tube with spark ignition: (a) acceleration to Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) detonation speed followed by constant CJ wave propagation, (b) acceleration to CJ speed, followed by the detonation wave failure, and (c) flame acceleration to a constant speed below the CJ speed of approximately 1600 m/s. The current detonation mechanism observed in capillary tubes is applicable to predetonators for pulsed detonation, micro propulsion devices, safety issues, and addresses fundamental issues raised by recent theoretical and numerical analyses.     

隔板深度对激波聚焦起爆影响的数值模拟研究

考虑几何结构参数对激波聚焦触发爆轰波的复杂影响,对H2/Air预混气的环形射流激波聚焦起爆现象开展了数值模拟研究,详细分析了不同隔板深度条件下的激波聚焦过程、流场演化特征以及爆轰波参数变化规律。研究结果表明,凹腔内激波聚焦诱导的局部爆炸以及隔板前缘处射流形成"卷吸涡"是引起爆轰波触发的两个重要机制,而隔板深度是影响环形射流激波聚焦起爆性能的关键因素。随着隔板深度的增加,凹腔内激波聚焦的强度逐步增强,回传的能量损失有所减小,进而导致爆燃转爆轰的距离与时间显著缩短。此外,当隔板深度由1 mm逐渐增加至3 mm时,爆轰波自持传播稳定性呈现出先降低后升高的变化趋势,产生这一现象的主要原因是爆轰波强度与三波点运动的相互作用。     

Flame acceleration process and detonation transition in a channel with roughness elements on a wall

We experimentally investigated the effect of small roughness elements, which could be regarded as the wall roughness, on flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT). Our previous experiments (Maeda et al., 2019) using the sandpaper-like irregular roughness indicated that the flame acceleration and the associated DDT were greatly enhanced by the roughness. In this study, CH* chemiluminescence imaging as well as schlieren imaging was conducted in parallel with pressure measurements using an ethylene-oxygen combustion in the channel (486 mm long, 10 mm square cross-section) with the regular roughness (square pyramid elements with a base length and a height of 1 mm) in order to directly link the interference between the flow-field affected by the roughness and the propagating flame surface resulting the enhancement of chemical reactions, whereas the schlieren imaging alone could not allow to discuss the chemical reaction field in the previous study. After the leading shock wave was formed by the initial finger flame acceleration process, multiple interactions were observed on the flame front with the flow-field and pressure disturbances of the unreacted gas near the roughness elements. The results provided clear evidence that the roughness emphasized the effect of boundary layer, and the region where the disturbance layer and the flame were interacting coincided with the strong chemical reaction in the chemiluminescence image, indicating increase of the flame surface area caused by the turbulence on the flame front, which was also validated by the rough estimation of the burning velocity. The detonation onset was observed at the flame surface near the wall with the roughness elements. The possible factors of the final detonation transition were deduced to be the hot spot formation based on the multiple interactions of pressure waves with the roughness elements and entrainment of the unreacted gas of the highly turbulent flame front.     

Tunable diode laser measurements of the band strength and collision halfwidths of nitric oxide

The strength of the fundamental absorption band of nitric oxide at 5.3 μm and collision halfwidths of nitric oxide lines broadened by nitrogen, argon, and combustion gases were measured in absorption cell, flat flame and shock tube experiments using a tunable diode laser. Room temperature absorption measurements were made in an absorption cell filled with NO/N₂ or NO/Ar mixtures or with probe-extracted combustion gases. High temperature (to 2500 K) absorption measurements were performed for NO in N₂ and NO in Ar using a shock tube, and for NO in combustion gases using a flat flame burner.Absorption measurements were made on lines from 1860–1925 cm^?1, ($\text{Ω=}\text{1}\text{2}$ and $\text{3}\text{2}$,P($\text{5}\text{2}$-R ($\text{29}\text{2}$)) resulting in a band strength of 123±8 cm^-2 atm^?1 at 273.2 K. Collision halfwidth dependencies for each broadening species were examined as a function of rotational quantum number and temperature.     

Effect of Lewis number on premixed laminar lean-limit flames stabilized on a bluff body

In this paper, we present a study on the effect of Lewis number, Le, on the stabilization and blow-off of laminar lean limit premixed flames stabilized on a cylindrical bluff body. Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted for propane, methane and two blends of hydrogen with methane as fuel gases, containing 20% and 40% of hydrogen by volume, respectively. It is found that the Le?>?1 flame blows-off via convection from the base of the flame (without formation of a neck) when the conditions for flame anchoring are not fulfilled. Le?≤?1 flames exhibit a necking phenomenon just before lean blow-off. This necking of the flame front is a result of the local reduction in mass burning rates causing flame merging and quenching of the thin flame tube formed. The structure of these flames at the necking location is found to be similar to tubular flames. It is found that extinction stretch rates for tubular flames closely match values at the neck location of bluff-body flames of corresponding mixtures, suggesting that excessive flame stretch is directly responsible for blow-off of the studied Le?≤?1 flames. After quenching of the neck, the upstream part forms a steady and stable residual flame in the wake of the bluff body while the downstream part is convected away.     

Numerical study of premixed flame dynamics in a closed tube: Effect of wall boundary condition

Numerical simulations were conducted to study the dynamics of premixed flames propagating in a closed tube by solving the fully compressible reactive Navier–Stokes equations using a high-order numerical method on a dynamically adapting grid. A simplified chemical-diffusive model was used to describe the reactions and energy release in a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture. The influence of wall boundary condition on the flame dynamics was explored by considering three different types of condition on the walls: adiabatic no-slip, adiabatic free-slip, and isothermal. The calculations show that the wall boundary condition has a significant effect on the generation and amplification of pressure waves and consequently on the flame dynamics. In the early stages of flame propagation, the flame behaves in a similar manner for different boundary conditions, that is, the flame develops a tulip shape that further evolves into a distorted tulip flame (DTF) through Rayleigh-Taylor instability arising from acoustic-flame interaction. Significant differences, however, arise after DTF formation in the late stages, especially when the primary acoustic wave is amplified to form a shock wave in the adiabatic free-slip and isothermal cases. The shock-flame interactions facilitate the formation of a series of increasingly corrugated flames by triggering the Richtmyer–Meshkov instabilities. The way how the lateral flame fronts touch the tube sidewalls to generate the primary acoustics and the heat conduction through the tube sidewalls play an important role in the generation and amplification of the pressure waves.     

Detonation simulations in supersonic flow under circumstances of injection and mixing

The unsteady, reactive Navier-Stokes equations with a detailed chemical mechanism of 11 species and 27 steps were employed to simulate the mixing, flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) triggered by transverse jet obstacles. Results show that multiple transverse jet obstacles ejecting into the chamber can be used to activate DDT. But the occurrence of DDT is tremendously difficult in a non-uniform supersonic mixture so that it required several groups of transverse jets with increasing stagnation pressure. The jets introduce flow turbulence and produce oblique and bow shock waves even in an inhomogeneous supersonic mixture. The DDT is enhanced by multiple explosion points that are generated by the intense shock wave focusing of the leading flame front. It is found that the partial detonation front decouples into shock and flame, which is mainly caused by the fuel deficiency, nevertheless the decoupled shock wave is strong enough to reignite the mixture to detonation conditions. The resulting transverse wave leads to further mixing and burning of the downstream non-equilibrium chemical reaction, resulting in a high combustion temperature and intense flow instabilities. Additionally, the longitudinal and transverse gradients of the non-uniform supersonic mixture induce highly dynamic behaviors with sudden propagation speed increase and detonation front instabilities.     

Effect of debris fragments on direct initiation of spherical detonation waves in stoichiometric oxygen/hydrogen mixtures

Paper reports a result of experiments of spherical shock waves generated by explosions of micro-explosives weighing from 1 to 10 mg ignited by the irradiation of Q-switched laser beam and direct initiation to a spherical detonation wave in stoichiometric oxygen/hydrogen mixtures at 10–200 kPa. We visualized the interaction of debris particles ejected micro-explosives’ surface with shock waves by using double exposure holographic interferometry and high-speed video recording. Upon explosion, minute inert debris launched supersonically from micro-charge surface precursory to shock waves initiated spherical detonation waves. To examine this effect we attached 0.5–2.0 μm diameter SiO₂ particles densely on micro-explosive surfaces and observed that the supersonic particles, significantly promoted the direct initiation of spherical detonation waves. The domain and boundary of detonation wave initiations were experimentally obtained at various initial pressures and the amount of micro-charges.     

Accelerative expansion and DDT of stoichiometric ethylene/oxygen flame rings in micro-gaps

Acceleration and transition to detonation of expanding flame rings ignited at the center of 260 μm and 120 μm gaps between parallel flat pates were experimentally studied. The micro-spacing was initially filled with stoichiometric ethylene/oxygen mixtures at ambient pressure and temperature. Visualizations showed that the outward propagating reaction wave was initially smooth and circular, but petal-like wrinkles quickly developed on the flame ring. Flame wrinkles appeared earlier and closer to the ignition point as the gap width became smaller. The flame underwent fast acceleration during the onset of flame wrinkling, but the acceleration was relatively mild as the wrinkled flame ring continued to expand. Time exponents for the accelerative growth of corrugated flame rings were identical in the two highly confined gaps. The flame ring underwent deflagration-to-detonation transition as the propagation velocities abruptly surged from 1000 m/s to over 2000 m/s. The arc-shaped detonation waves initiated from local explosion spots on the flame ring were propagating at near Chapman–Jouguet velocities. The induction distance and time for detonation transition were both shorter in the smaller gap. Detonation cell patterns and the initiation locations were also clearly recorded through soot film visualizations.     

Detonation re-initiation mechanism following the Mach reflection of a quenched detonation

This experimental study addresses the re-initiation mechanism of detonation waves following the Mach reflection of a shock–flame complex. The detonation diffraction around a cylinder is used to reproducibly generate the shock–flame complex of interest. The experiments are performed in methane–oxygen. We use a novel experimental technique of coupling a two-in-line-spark flash system with a double-frame camera in order to obtain microsecond time resolution permitting accurate schlieren velocimetry. The first series of experiments compares the non-reactive sequence of shock reflections with the reflection over a rough wall under identical conditions. It was found that the hot reaction products generated along the rough wall are entrained by the wall jet into a large vortex structure behind the Mach stem. The second series of experiments performed in more sensitive mixtures addressed the sequence of events leading to the detonation establishment along the Mach and transverse waves. Following ignition and jet entrainment, a detonation first appears along the Mach stem while the transverse wave remains non-reactive. The structure of the unburned tongue however indicates local instabilities and hot spot formation, leading to the rapid reaction of this gas. Numerical simulations are also reported, confirming the sequence of ignition events obtained experimentally.