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Numerical investigation of flame propagation in pulse detonation engine with variation of obstacle clearance

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Abstract

The objective of present research work is to investigate the combustion flame acceleration and performance of pulse detonation engine (PDE). The PDE tube consisting of obstacles of varying gap with fixed blockage ratio is analyzed in the current study. The three-dimensional reactive Navier–Stokes equation along with realizable k–ε turbulence model is used to simulate the combustion phenomena of hydrogen–air mixture. The one-step irreversible chemical kinetics model analyzes detailed mechanism of exothermic reaction. The propagation of flame and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) run-up length is based on normal propagating regime. As the gap between combustor inner surface and obstacle outer diameter increases, the propagating area near the combustor axis reduces. Therefore, loss of momentum of turbulence combustion particle and unburnt fuel particles (voids) are increased at the wake of obstacle due to the increase in gap (or reduction in obstacle outer diameter), which results reduction in detonation wave velocity and detonation total pressure. However, DDT flame run-up length increases with lower temperature along the axis of PDE combustor. The thrust force generated by PDE combustor also gets reduced as the obstacle diameter is reduced.

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Abbreviations

CJ:

Chapman Jouguet

\(D_{\text{CJ}}\) :

Chapman Jouguet detonation speed

\(D_{\text{i}}\) :

Diffusion coefficient

\(F\) :

Number of moles of fuel

h :

Specific enthalpy

\(k_{\text{th}}\) :

Thermal conductivity

\(M_{\text{i}}\) :

Symbol denoting species i

\(n\) :

Number of chemical species in system

P :

Pressure

\(q_{\text{j}}\) :

Heat flux

\(R_{\text{G}}\) :

Universal gas constant

\(S\) :

Source term

T :

Temperature

\(u_{\text{ij}}\) :

Velocity in i and j direction

\(W_{\text{f}}\) :

Molar weight of fuel

Y i :

Mass fraction of ith species

\(\alpha_{\text{i}}\) :

Molar fraction

\(\nu_{\text{i,r}}^{{\prime }}\) :

Stoichiometric coefficient for reactant i in reaction r

\(\nu_{\text{i,r}}^{{\prime \prime }}\) :

Stoichiometric coefficient for product i in reaction r

\(\mu_{\text{t}}\) :

Turbulent viscosity

\(\tau_{\text{ij}}\) :

Viscous stress tensor

ρ :

Density

ϕ :

Equivalent ratio of fuel and air

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

PDE:

Pulse detonation engine

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express gratitude to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Silchar, Assam, India for providing CFD lab facilities, and also, thankful to TEQIP III for providing financial support to carry out the research work.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Assam, 788010, India

    Noor Alam, K. K. Sharma & K. M. Pandey

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  1. Noor Alam
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Alam, N., Sharma, K.K. & Pandey, K.M. Numerical investigation of flame propagation in pulse detonation engine with variation of obstacle clearance. J Therm Anal Calorim 140, 2485–2495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08948-5

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