Experimental investigation of combustion mechanisms of kerosene-fueled scramjet engines with double-cavity flameholders

A scramjet combustor with double cavitybased flameholders was experimentally studied in a directconnected test bed with the inflow conditions of M = 2.64,Pt = 1.84 MPa,Tt = 1 300 K.Successful ignition and selfsustained combustion with room temperature kerosene was achieved using pilot hydrogen,and kerosene was vertically injected into the combustor through 4×φ 0.5 mm holes mounted on the wall.For different equivalence ratios and different injection schemes with both tandem cavities and parallel cavities,flow fields were obtained and compared using a high speed camera and a Schlieren system.Results revealed that the combustor inside the flow field was greatly influenced by the cavity installation scheme,cavities in tandem easily to form a single side flame distribution,and cavities in parallel are more likely to form a joint flame,forming a choked combustion mode.The supersonic combustion flame was a kind of diffusion flame and there were two kinds of combustion modes.In the unchoked combustion mode,both subsonic and supersonic combustion regions existed.While in the choked mode,the combustion region was fully subsonic with strong shock propagating upstream.Results also showed that there was a balance point between the boundary separation and shock enhanced combustion,depending on the intensity of heat release.     

Planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging of OH in a supersonic combustor fueled with ethylene and methane

A supersonic combustor was experimentally investigated using both conventional instrumentation and laser-based diagnostics. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH was used in the main section of the combustor to examine flameholding and flame propagation during a series of evaluations at conditions simulating Mach-5.5 flight. Parameters of interest in this study included the angle of the primary fuel injectors, the distribution of fuel throughout the combustor, and the fuel composition. Changes in fuel-injection angle were expected to influence the mixing and combustion processes, and therefore combustor operation. Fuel-distribution variations were expected to modify the flame propagation between flameholding regions. Finally, ethylene and methane were used to examine the suitability of the flameholder designs over a wide range of fuel reactivity. Results suggest that the combustor provides relatively robust flameholding regardless of the fuel used and good flame propagation as long as the fuel distribution provides favorable conditions in the flameholding regions. In addition, the results show that the primary injectors can be useful in controlling certain aspects of combustor operability.     

Drag force on quasi-axisymmetric scramjets at various flight Mach numbers: theory and experiment

The net axial force on a non-fuelled quasi-axisymmetric scramjet model designed for operation at Mach 6 was measured in the T4 Stalker tube at The University of Queensland using a single-component stress wave force balance. The design used was a variant of a model that was tested previously at Mach 6. The new model was equipped with a modified thrust nozzle that was designed to improve the performance of the nozzle. Tests were performed to measure the drag force on the model for Mach 6, Mach 8 and Mach 10 shock tunnel nozzles for a range of flow conditions. The nozzle-supply enthalpy was varied from 3 to 10 MJ/kg and the nozzle-supply pressure from 35 to 45 MPa. For the test model, the drag coefficient increased with increasing nozzle-supply enthalpy. The test results are compared with a force prediction method based on simple hypersonic theories and three-dimensional CFD. The test results are in good agreement with the predictions over the wide range of conditions tested. The re-designed model has a more efficient nozzle but this comes at the expense of increased drag associated with the modifications required for the cowl. The results indicate that this type of vehicle design is not likely to be suitable for flight above Mach 8.

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Optimization of double plasma jet torches in a scramjet combustor

Ignition tests by double plasma jet (PJ) torches in a supersonic flow were conducted. Two PJ torches with different feedstocks were arranged in a straight line in the direction of flow. The Mach number of the airflow was 2.3, and the total temperature and total pressure of the main flow were those of room conditions. A C₂H₄ fuel perpendicularly injected with its sonic speed into the main flow was tested. A combination of O₂–O₂ feedstocks for the two torches was more effective than other combinations such as H₂/N₂–O₂. Moreover, the effectiveness of the double PJs was found to be almost the same as that of a single PJ. These results indicate that combustion reactions of the main fuel injected upstream of the PJ were mostly completed in the vicinity of the upstream PJ. The upstream PJ was considered to be dominant for ignition and the combustion process, indicating that the influence of the downstream PJ was small. On the other hand, the advantage of the double PJs over the single PJ in reducing damage to the torch nozzle was confirmed.     

Diode laser-based detection of combustor instabilities with application to a scramjet engine

Fluctuations in temperature non-uniformity along the line-of-sight of a diode laser absorption sensor in a model scramjet are found to precede backpressure-induced unstart (expulsion of the isolator shock train). A novel detection strategy combining Fourier analysis of temperature time series to determine low-frequency heat release fluctuations with simultaneous measurements of multiple absorption features of H₂O to identify temperature non-uniformities was applied to the scramjet combustor. Time-resolved absorption is measured using wavelength modulation spectroscopy for three transitions chosen with different temperature-dependent absorption characteristics. The line-of-sight (LOS)-averaged temperature inferred from the ratio of absorption from one pair of transitions is highly sensitive to low-temperature non-uniformities along the absorption path while the other ratio is less sensitive. The fraction of fluctuations in the range 1 < f < 50 Hz is determined from short-time Fourier transforms (STFTs) of the measured temperatures from both transition pairs. The ratio of these fractions provides a robust measure of the low-frequency fluctuations in temperature non-uniformities in the flow. Measurements in a scramjet test rig indicate a distinct increase in low-frequency fluctuations of low-temperature gases several seconds before the isolator shock train is forced out of the inlet by heat addition to the combustor. Though the precise cause of the fluctuations remains unknown, the detection method shows promise for use in control schemes to avoid back pressure-induced unstarts.     

CFD analysis of the HyShot II scramjet combustor

The development of novel air-breathing engines such as supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) depends on the understanding of supersonic mixing, self-ignition and combustion. These aerothermochemical processes occur together in a scramjet engine and are notoriously difficult to understand. In the present study, we aim at analyzing the HyShot II scramjet combustor mounted in the High Enthalpy Shock Tunnel Göttingen (HEG) by using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) models with detailed and reduced chemistry. To account for the complicated flow in the HEG facility a zonal approach is adopted in which RANS is used to simulate the flow in the HEG nozzle and test-section, providing the necessary inflow boundary conditions for more detailed RANS and LES of the reacting flow in the HyShot combustor. Comparison of predicted wall pressures and heat fluxes with experimental data show good agreement, and in particular does the LES agree well with the experimental data. The LES results are used to elucidate the flow, mixing, self-ignition and subsequent combustion processes in the combustor. The combustor flow can be separated into the mixing zone, in which turbulent mixing from the jet-in-cross flow injectors dominates, the self-ignition zone, in which self-ignition rapidly takes place, and the turbulent combustion zone, located towards the end of the combustor, in which most of the heat release and volumetric expansion takes place. Self-ignition occurs at some distance downstream of the injectors, resulting in a distinct pressure rise further downstream due to the volumetric expansion as observed in the experiments. The jet penetration is about 30% of the combustor height and the combustion efficiency is found to be around 83%.     

Fluorescence imaging of mixing flowfields and comparisons with computational fluid dynamic simulations

This paper compares computational and experimental fluorescence images of the mixing flows associated with a number of fuel injectors, injecting hydrogen fuel into a supersonic coflow. The favourable comparison allows us to establish the reliability of the computational fluid dynamic modelling on which the theoretical images are based. Theoretical calculations of mixing performance parameters are then used to assess the mixing characteristics and performance of the injectors. Received 21 July 2001 / Accepted 16 August 2001 Published online 8 July 2002