Using microwave discharge to ignite the air-fuel mixture at high flow velocities

Article

Published: 07.12.2023

Authors: Komratov D.V., Chirkov A.Yu.

Published in issue: #12(144)/2023

DOI: 10.18698/2308-6033-2023-12-2321

Category: Mechanics | Chapter: Mechanics of Liquid, Gas, and Plasma

The paper considers the process of a microwave discharge interacting with the supersonic propellant mixture at the 1.6 Mach number. It provides an overview of using the discharges in the propellant ignition under various conditions regarding pressure, flow rate and the discharge energy input. Experimental results are presented of studying ignition of the homogeneous propane-air mixture by temperature and pressure at the outlet of a channel with the 14 mm diameter, and the  oxidizer excess coefficient varying from 1.3 to 0.75, and pressure varying from 0.15 to 0.1 atm. The experimental results were analyzed on the basis of simulation and one-dimensional estimates. Estimates from the experimental data were based on the energy balance and made it possible to show the difference in energy depending on the chemical transformations implementation, which qualitatively indicated the process occurrence. Ignition under such conditions at the static pressure of the order of 0.1 atm and total temperature of 290 K is difficult by other methods, while introduction of the microwave discharge makes it possible to initiate the combustion.

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