Performance of a Supersonic Model Combustor using Vaporized Kerosene Injection

Characteristics of supersonic combustion by injecting kerosene vapor into a Mach 2.5 crossflow at various preheat temperatures and pressures were investigated experimentally. A two-stage heating system has been designed and tested, which can prepare heated kerosene of 0.8 kg up to 820 K at pressure of 5.5 Mpa with minimum/negligible fuel coking. In order to simulate the thermophysical properties of kerosene over a wide range of thermodynamic conditions, a three-component surrogate that matches the compound class of the parent fuel was employed. The flow rate of kerosene vapor was calibrated using a sonic nozzle. Computed flow rates using the surrogate fuel are in agreement with the experimental data. Kerosene jets at various preheat temperatures injecting into both quiescent environment and Mach 2.5 crossflow were visualized. It was found that at injection pressure of 4 Mpa and preheat temperature of 550 K the kerosene jet was completely in vapor phase, while keeping almost the same penetration depth as compared to the liquid kerosene injection. Supersonic combustion tests were also carried out to compare the combustor performance for the cases of vaporized kerosene injection, liquid kerosene injection, and effervescent atomization with hydrogen barbotage, under the similar stagnation conditions. Experimental results demonstrated that the use of vaporized kerosene injection leads to better combustor performance. Further parametric study on vaporized kerosene injection in a supersonic model combustor is needed to assess the combustion efficiency as well as to identify the controlling mechanism for the overall combustion enhancement.

Atomization Experiment of Pulsed Supersonic Liquid Jets

This paper will introduce an atomization experiment of pulsed supersonic water jets and polymer polyacrylamide (PAA) (0.1% and 1.0% weight density) solution jets. The jets are generated from a small high-speed liquid jet apparatus. The schlieren photography is applied to visualize the jets. The velocities of the jets are measured by cutting two laser beams. The effects of the nozzle diameter and the standoff distance on atomization and the jet velocity have been examined. The experiment shows that the polymer solution jets are easier to be atomized than water jets. This may be due to low surface tension of the polymer solution. The nozzle diameter causes different shock structures around the supersonic jets.

Investigation of Vaporized Kerosene Injection and Combustion in a Supersonic Model Combustor

Injection and combustion of vaporized kerosene was experimentally investigated in a Mach 2.5 model combustor at various fuel temperatures and injection pressures. A unique kerosene heating and delivery system, which can prepare heated kerosene up to 820 K at a pressure of 5.5 MPa with negligible fuel coking, was developed. A three-species surrogate was employed to simulate the thermophysical properties of kerosene. The calculated thermophysical properties of surrogate provided insight into the fuel flow control in experiments. Kerosene jet structures at various preheat temperatures injecting into both quiescent environment and a Mach 2.5 crossflow were characterized. It was shown that the use ofvaporized kerosene injection holds the potential of enhancing fuel-air mixing and promoting overall burning. Supersonic combustion tests further confirmed the preceding conjecture by comparing the combustor performances of supercritical kerosene with those of liquid kerosene and effervescent atomization with hydrogen barbotage. Under the similar flow conditions and overall kerosene equivalence ratios, experimental results illustrated that the combustion efficiency of supercritical kerosene increased approximately 10-15% over that of liquid kerosene, which was comparable to that of effervescent atomization.

Numerical Study on Kerosene Spray in Supersonic Flow

Numerical simulation was conducted to study the kerosene spray characteristics injecting into supersonic cross flow. The verification of the simulation was carried out by experimental Schlieren image, and the agreement was obtained by compared the spray plume pictures. Furthermore, the aerodynamic secondary breakup effect of the supersonic cross flow on the initial droplets was investigated. It was revealed that the initial parent drops were broken up into small drops whose diameter is about O(10) micrometers soon after they entered into the supersonic cross flow. During the appropriate range of initial drop size, the parent droplets would be broken up into small drops with the same magnitude diameter no matter how large the initial drops SMD was.

An Experimental Study of Kerosene Combustion in a Supersonic Model Combustor Using Effervescent Atomization

Investigation of kerosene combustion in a Mach 2.5 flow was carried out using a model supersonic combustor with cross-section area of 51 mm?70 mm, with special emphases on the characterization of effervescent atomization and the flameholdering mechanism using different integrated fuel injector/flameholder cavity modules. Direct photography, Schlieren imaging, and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH were utilized to examine the cavity characteristics and spray structure, with and without gas barbotage. Schlieren images illustrate the effectiveness of gas barbotage in facilitating atomization and the importance of secondary atomization when kerosene sprays interacting with a supersonic crossflow. OH-PLIF images further substantiate our previous finding that there exists a local high temperature radical pool within the cavity flameholder and this radical pool plays a crucial role in promoting kerosene combustion in a supersonic combustor. The present results also demonstrate that the cavity characteristics can be different in non-reacting and reacting supersonic flows. As such, the conventional definition of cavity characteristics based on non-reacting flows needs to be revised.

Numerical Investigation On The Flowfield Of "Swallowtail" Cavity For Supersonic Mixing Enhancement

A "swallowtail" cavity for the supersonic combustor was proposed to serve as an efficient flame holder for scramjets by enhancing the mass exchange between the cavity and the main flow. A numerical study on the "swallowtail" cavity was conducted by solving the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations implemented with a k-epsilon turbulence model in a multi-block mesh. Turbulence model and numerical algorithms were validated first, and then test cases were calculated to investigate into the mechanism of cavity flows. Numerical results demonstrated that the certain mass in the supersonic main flow was sucked into the cavity and moved spirally toward the combustor walls. After that, the flow went out of the cavity at its lateral end, and finally was efficiently mixed with the main flow. The comparison between the "swallowtail" cavity and the conventional one showed that the mass exchanged between the cavity and the main flow was enhanced by the lateral flow that was induced due to the pressure gradient inside the cavity and was driven by the three-dimensional vortex ring generated from the "swallowtail" cavity structure.

Acoustic Calculation for Supersonic Turbulent Boundary Layer Flow

An approach which combines direct numerical simulation (DNS) with the Lighthill acoustic analogy theory is used to study the potential noise sources during the transition process of a Mach 2.25 flat plate boundary layer. The quadrupole sound sources due to the flow fluctuations and the dipole sound sources due to the fluctuating surface stress are obtained. Numerical results suggest that formation of the high shear layers leads to a dramatic amplification of amplitude of the fluctuating quadrupole sound sources. Compared with the quadrupole sound source, the energy of dipole sound source is concentrated in the relatively low frequency range.

Catalytic Cracking and Heat Sink Capacity of Aviation Kerosene Under Supercritical Conditions

Catalytic cracking of China no. 3 aviation kerosene using a zeolite catalyst was investigated under supercritical conditions. A three-stage heating/cracking system was specially designed to be capable of heating 0.8 kg kerosene to a temperature of 1050 K and pressure of 7.0 MPa with maximum mass flow rate of 80 g/s. Sonic nozzles of different diameters were used to calibrate and monitor the mass flow rate of the cracked fuel mixture. With proper experiment arrangements, the mass flow rate per unit throat area of the cracked fuel mixture was found to well correlate with the extent of fuel conversion. The gaseous products obtained from fuel cracking under different conditions were also analyzed using gas chromatography. Composition analysis showed that the average molecular weight of the resulting gaseous products and the fuel mass conversion percentage were a strong function of the fuel temperature and were only slightly affected by the fuel pressure. The fuel conversion was also shown to depend on the fuel residence time in the reactor, as expected. Furthermore, the heat sink levels due to sensible heating and endothermic cracking were determined and compared at varying test conditions. It was found that at a fuel temperature of similar to 1050 K, the total heat sink reached similar to 3.4 MJ/kg, in which chemical heat sink accounted for similar to 1.5 MJ/kg.

飞秒强激光场中大尺寸氩团簇爆炸机理的实验研究

By using time-of-flight spectroscopy, the ionization and explosion of large argon clusters ( (n) over bar = 3 x 10(3) - 3 x 10(6)) in the intense femtosecond pulsed laser field (60 fs,2 x 10(16) W/cm(2)) has been studied, and the dependence of average energy of ions emitted from argon clusters on the gas backing pressure has been measured. By comparing the average ion energies obtained with two different supersonic conical nozzles and considering the Hagena's scaling law of clusters, we have found that the average ion energy is determined by the cluster size when the laser parameters are kept unchanged. The experimental results indicated that when the cluster size is less than 3 x 10(5) atoms per cluster, the Coulomb repulsion force is the dominating factor in the expansion mechanism. Beyond this size, for 3 x 10(5) < (n) over barn < 3 x 10(6), the expansion is the result of the combined effect of both the Coulomb repulsion force and the hydrodynamic force, and the latter will play the dominating role for increasing cluster size.

Direct Numerical Simulation of Shock/Turbulent Boundary Layer Interaction in a Supersonic Compression Ramp

A direct numerical simulation of the shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction flow in a supersonic 24-degree compression ramp is conducted with the free stream Mach number 2.9. The blow-and-suction disturbance in the upstream wall boundary is used to trigger the transition. Both the mean wall pressure and the velocity profiles agree with those of the experimental data, which validates the simulation. The turbulent kinetic energy budget in the separation region is analyzed. Results show that the turbulent production term increases fast in the separation region, while the turbulent dissipation term reaches its peak in the near-wall region. The turbulent transport term contributes to the balance of the turbulent conduction and turbulent dissipation. Based on the analysis of instantaneous pressure in the downstream region of the mean shock and that in the separation bubble, the authors suggest that the low frequency oscillation of the shock is not caused by the upstream turbulent disturbance, but rather the instability of separation bubble.