TY - JOUR
T1 - Visualization and Performance Evaluation of a Liquid-Ethanol Cylindrical Rotating Detonation Combustor
AU - Ishihara, Kazuki
AU - Yoneyama, Kentaro
AU - Sato, Tomoki
AU - Watanabe, Hiroaki
AU - Itouyama, Noboru
AU - Kawasaki, Akira
AU - Matsuoka, Ken
AU - Kasahara, Jiro
AU - Matsuo, Akiko
AU - Funaki, Ikkoh
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants No. JP19H05464, JP18KK0127, JP17H03480, and JP17K18937; and by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The authors.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Rotating detonation combustors (RDCs) are among the combustors that use supersonic combustion waves known as detonation waves, and are expected to simplify engine systems and improve thermal efficiency due to their supersonic combustion and compression performance using shock waves. Research is also being actively conducted worldwide on a cylindrical RDC; a RDC without an inner cylinder, which is expected to simplify and downsize the combustor. However, most of the research was performed using gas propellants, and liquid propellants were rarely used. Since liquid propellants are used in many combustors, it is important to evaluate the performance of RDCs with liquid propellants. In this study, a cylindrical RDC with a liquid ethanol-gas oxygen mixture was constructed and tested at a flow rate of 31.5 ± 5.0 g/s, an equivalence ratio of 0.46-1.39, and a back pressure of 14.5 ± 2.5 kPa. The thrust was shown to depend strongly on the combustor bottom pressure history. In addition, the start-up process of the cylindrical RDC with liquid fuel was clarified by self-luminous and CH+ radical visualizations. It was found that the detonation wavefront propagated at a distance of 2-3mm from the combustor bottom, and the main combustion region was 10-15mm in height.
AB - Rotating detonation combustors (RDCs) are among the combustors that use supersonic combustion waves known as detonation waves, and are expected to simplify engine systems and improve thermal efficiency due to their supersonic combustion and compression performance using shock waves. Research is also being actively conducted worldwide on a cylindrical RDC; a RDC without an inner cylinder, which is expected to simplify and downsize the combustor. However, most of the research was performed using gas propellants, and liquid propellants were rarely used. Since liquid propellants are used in many combustors, it is important to evaluate the performance of RDCs with liquid propellants. In this study, a cylindrical RDC with a liquid ethanol-gas oxygen mixture was constructed and tested at a flow rate of 31.5 ± 5.0 g/s, an equivalence ratio of 0.46-1.39, and a back pressure of 14.5 ± 2.5 kPa. The thrust was shown to depend strongly on the combustor bottom pressure history. In addition, the start-up process of the cylindrical RDC with liquid fuel was clarified by self-luminous and CH+ radical visualizations. It was found that the detonation wavefront propagated at a distance of 2-3mm from the combustor bottom, and the main combustion region was 10-15mm in height.
KW - Atomization
KW - Detonation Combustion
KW - Liquid Fuel
KW - Rotating Detonation Combustor
KW - Visualization
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U2 - 10.2322/tjsass.66.46
DO - 10.2322/tjsass.66.46
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85150444374
SN - 0549-3811
VL - 66
SP - 46
EP - 58
JO - Transactions of the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
JF - Transactions of the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
IS - 2
ER -