A hollow combustor that intensifies rotating detonation
Abstract Annular combustors are traditional, while hollow combustors without centerbodies are becoming popular for rotating detonation engines. Both schemes are studied experimentally in this paper to determine which combustor demonstrates a better detonation performance and pressure gain performance. The hydrogen and air sources are at room temperatures of 280 285 K. The annular and hollow combustors have the same scheme, although the centerbody is removed from the hollow combustor. The combustors are made optically accessible by embedding a piece of quartz glass in the outerbody. The hollow combustor channel has an outer diameter of 100 mm, and the detonation channel of the annular combustor has an inner diameter of 60 mm. Fuel and air are injected into the combustor from 150 cylindrical orifices with a diameter of 0.8 mm and a circular channel with a throat width of 1 mm, respectively. The results show that the hollow combustor demonstrates a better detonation performance and a higher pressure gain than the annular combustor. High speed images show the rotating detonation is propagating with a lap time which is in good agreement with that obtained from pressure traces.
Aerospace Science and Technology