An experimental Study on Transverse Hydrogen Gas Injection into Mach 1.8 Airflow Channel—The 1st report：single Circular Injector

Experimental results from a series of injection tests of pressurized H2,N2 gases into Mach 1.8 airflows between parallel channel walls through a flush-mounted circular sonic opening have been presented.Schlieren pictures revealed complex interaction flow features including the occurrence of bow/separation shock waves due to the injection as well as the barrel shock/Mach disc structure inside the injected gas stream.The injectant penetration measured by the Mach disc height against the injection pressure showed a good agreement with the correlation curve based upon the “effective back pressure” concept.The revesed flow region beneath the separation shock wave,the injectant wake and its associated flow entrainment were also visualized by the oil paint method.Wall static pressure distributions around the injector were measured in detail,which corresponded very well to the above results of flow visualization. Gas samplings were also undertaken by using the pressure taps to confirm the presence of H2 gas in the spearation region ahead of the injector.Traversing of total pressure and H2 gas concentration at the exit of the test channel showed monotonous increase of the loss while its profile was kept very similar with the injection pressure.The area indicating the loss and the presence of H2 gas almost coincided with each other,which remained to be small to indicate very slow gas mixing/diffusion with the main air flow.With the increase of airflow total temperature to 1200K,a bulk flame was first observed at the exit section.Further increase up to 1460 K observed an ignition flame at the injector.However,the reflection of the bow shock wave was found to be a more likely trigger of the bulk flame ignition within the test section.     

An Experimental Study on Transverse Hydrogen Gas Injection into Mach 1.8 Airflow Channel—The 2nd report：Tandem Circular Injectors

INTRODUCTIONOurpreviousreport'wasconcernedwiththeexper-imentsoftransverseinjectionthroughasingleinjectorintoMach1.8airflowbetweellaparallelchannelwall,inwhichthewallpressuredistributions,theflowvi-sualizationduetoschlierenandoilflowvisualizationmethodsandthetotalpressureandconcentrationdis-tributionsattheexitcrosssectionshowedtheshockwavestructureandmixing/diffusionprocessneartheinjectorandtheassociatedtotalpressurelossinthemainstream.Theexperimentalobservationsneartheinjectorrevealedthatt…     

Ignition process evolution at high supersonic velocities in channel

The results of experimental research of multi-injector combustors in the regime of the attached pipe are presented. As a source of high-enthalpy working gas (air), hot shot wind tunnel IT-302M of ITAM, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was used. Tests have been carried out at Mach numbers 3, 4 and 5, in a range of change of total temperature from 2000K up to 3000K and static pressure from 0.08MPa up to 0.23MPa. Injector section has been manufactured in two versions with a various relative height of wedge-shaped injectors with parallel fuel injection. Influence of conditions on the entrance of the combustion chamber on ignition and a stable combustion of hydrogen was investigated. Intensive combustion of hydrogen has been received only at Mach numbers 3 and 4. Advantage of injector section with the greater relative height of injectors is revealed. The mechanism of fuel ignition in the combustion chamber of the given configuration was investigated: two-step ignition process including “kindling” and intensive combustion over all channel volume.     

Hydrogen/air supersonic combustion for future hypersonic vehicles

In this work, supersonic hydrogen combustion in the Hyshot II scramjet engine is investigated. In particular, fundamental physics of mixing, combustion and vorticity generation as well as the interaction between shock waves, boundary layer and heat release are analyzed by means of 3D Large Eddy Simulations (LES) using detailed chemistry. Results show very complex structures due to the interaction between the four sonic H₂ crossflow injections and the airstream flowing at M = 2.79. A bow shock forms ahead of each H₂ injector: the interaction between bow shocks and boundary layers leads to separation zones where H₂ recirculates. In these recirculation zones, OH radicals are produced, indicating that a flame already starts upstream of the injectors and downstream of the flow separation. The formation of barrel shocks due to the H₂ expansion and recompressions is also predicted. Comparison of pressure distribution along the wall centreline at 1.3 ms shows agreement with experimental results, mostly in the first part of the combustor, where the grid is very fine. The combustion is very fast and efficient: only 12.35% of hydrogen is found unburned at the combustor exit. This confirms that burning hydrogen is efficient and feasible also in supersonic flows and therefore it is a good candidate for hypersonic airbreathing applications.     

Experimental study on spontaneous ignition and flame propagation of high-pressure hydrogen release through tubes

An experimental study was conducted to research the mechanism of spontaneous ignition induced by high-pressure hydrogen release through tubes with a diameter of 10 mm and varying lengths from 0.3 to 3 m. The pressure and light signals inside the tube were collected. The propagation of shock wave inside and outside the tube was also systematically investigated. The development process of the jet flame in the atmosphere was completely recorded, and the multiple Mach disks at the tube exit were observed by using a high-speed camera. The results show that the minimum release pressure, at which the jet flame is formed, is found to be 3.87 MPa with the tube length of 1.7 m. When the tube length was longer than 1.7 m, the critical pressure for forming jet flame increased rapidly. The velocity attenuation of the shock wave is mainly affected by the burst pressure but not sensitive to the tube length, and the flame propagates in the tube at a slower velocity than the shock wave. The compression of the hydrogen-air mixture by the Mach disk causes it to burn more violently after passing through the Mach disk. It is confirmed that the flame at the tube exit is lifted in the atmosphere, then a jet flame initiates behind the second Mach disk.     

Experimental study of spontaneous ignition induced by sudden hydrogen release through tubes with different shaped cross-sections

The shock wave dynamics, spontaneous ignition and flame variation during high-pressure hydrogen release through tubes with different cross-section shapes are experimentally studied. Tubes with square, pentagon and circular cross-section shapes are considered in the experiments. The experimental results show that the cross-section shape of the tube has no great difference on the minimum burst pressure for spontaneous ignition in our tests. In the three tubes with length of 300 mm, spontaneous ignition may occur when overpressure of shock wave is 0.9 MPa. When the spontaneous ignition is induced in a non-circular cross-section tube, the possible turbulent flow in the corner of the tube increases can promote the mixing of hydrogen and air, thus producing more amount of the hydrogen/air mixture. As a result, both the peak light signal and flame duration detected in the non-circular cross-section tubes are more intense than those in the circular tube. The smaller angle of the corner leads to a more intensity flame inside tube. When the hydrogen flame propagates to the tube exit from the circular tube, the ball-like flame developed near tube exit is relatively weak. In addition, second flame separation outside the tube is observed for the cases of non-circular cross-section tubes.     

The initiation and propagation of detonation in supersonic combustible flow with boundary layer

Adaptive simulations solving the Navier-Stokes equations have been conducted in order to get a better understanding on the detonation initiation and propagation in a stoichiometric H₂/O₂/Ar supersonic mixture with boundary layer. The detonation is initiated by a continuous hot jet. When reflecting on the wall, the jet induced bow shock interacts with the boundary layer and forms the shock boundary layer interaction phenomena, while in Euler result the bow shock forms Mach reflection. The investigation shows that the Navier-Stokes simulation result is structurally in better agreement with the experiment compared with that of the inviscid Euler simulation result. The bow shock interacts with the separation shock, forming the shock induced combustion behind the interaction zone. Then the combustion front couples with shock and forms Mach stem induced detonation. The Mach stem induced detonation continues to getting higher and propagating upstream, initiating the main flow. The initiated partial detonation exists with the separation shock induced combustion front, forming an “oblique shock induced combustion-partial detonation” structure in the main flow. The investigation on the influence of free stream Mach number further confirms that the boundary layer has an important influence on detonation initiation. The parametric studies also show that there exists a free stream Mach number range to initiate the partial detonation in supersonic combustible flow successfully.     

Pressure dynamics,self-ignition,and flame propagation of hydrogen jet discharged under high pressure

The self-ignition of hydrogen released from a high-pressure tank using extension tubes (2200 mm) with different diameters was studied. The processes of flame transition at a nozzle and jet flame development were characterized using a high-speed camera. The results indicated that the intensity of a shockwave and the Mach number decay faster in a 10-mm-diameter tube than that in a 15-mm-diameter tube. The pressure in a 15-mm-diameter tube was weaker than that in the 10-mm-diameter tube at the initial stage; however, it became higher in the later stage. Spontaneous ignition was more likely to happen in a 15-mm-diameter tube. The formation of a stabilized flame at the tube exit and Mach disk were observed during the transition of the flame to a jet fire. The stabilized flame showed a triangular shape because of the influence of a Prandtl–Meyer flow when a hydrogen jet entered a suddenly expanding environment. The formation and separation of a spherical flame were recorded during jet flame development. Large vortexes were formed in front of the flame because of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, which resulted in the separation of the spherical flame. The vortexes stopped rotating until the separated flame disappeared.     

Numerical study on mixture formation characteristics in a direct-injection hydrogen engine

Numerical modeling of direct hydrogen injection and in-cylinder mixture formation is performed in this paper. Numerical studies on direct-injection hydrogen engines are very limited due mainly to the complexity in modeling the physical phenomena associated with the high-velocity gas jet. The high injection pressure will result in a choked flow and develop an underexpanded jet at the nozzle exit, which consists of oblique and normal shock waves. A robust numerical model and a very fine computational mesh are required to model these phenomena. However, a very fine mesh may not be feasible in the practical engine application. Therefore, in this study a gas jet injection model is implemented into a multidimensional engine simulation code to simulate the hydrogen injection process, starting from the downstream of the nozzle. The fuel jet is modeled on a coarse mesh using an adaptive mesh refinement algorithm in order to accurately capture the gas jet structure. The model is validated using experimental and theoretical results on the penetrations of single and multiple jets. The model is able to successfully predict the gas jet penetration and structure using a coarse mesh with reasonable computer time. The model is further applied to simulate a direct-injection hydrogen engine to study the effects of injection parameters on the in-cylinder mixture characteristics. The effects of the start of fuel injection, orientation of the jets, and the injector location on the mixture quality are determined. Results show that the hydrogen jets impinge on the walls soon after injection due to the high velocity of the gas jet. The mixing of hydrogen and air takes place mainly after wall impingement. The optimal injection parameters are selected based on the homogeneity of the in-cylinder mixture. It is found that early injection can result in more homogeneous mixture at the time of ignition. Results also indicate that it is more favorable to position the injector near the intake valve to take advantage of the interaction of hydrogen jets and the intake flow to create a more homogeneous mixture.     

Numerical simulation on the spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube at different burst pressures

Spontaneous ignition induced by high-pressure hydrogen release is one of the huge potential risks in the promotion of hydrogen energy. However, the understanding of the microscopic dynamic characteristics of spontaneous ignition, such as ignition initiation and flame development, remains unresolved. In this paper, the spontaneous ignition caused by high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube is investigated by two-dimensional numerical simulation at burst pressure ranging from 2.67 to 15 MPa. Especially, the thermal and species characteristics in hydrogen shock-induced ignition under different strengths of shock wave are discussed carefully. The results show that the stronger shock wave caused by higher burst pressure leads to larger heating area and higher heating temperature inside the tube, increasing the possibility of spontaneous ignition. The shortening effect of initial ignition time and initial ignition distance will decrease with the increase of the burst pressure. Ignition will be initiated when the temperature is raised to about 1350–1400 K under the heating effect of shock waves. It is also found that the ignition occurs under the lean-fuel condition firstly on the upper and lower walls of the tube. The flame branch after spontaneous ignition is observed in the mixing layer. Two ignition kernels show different characteristics during the process of combustion and flow. The evolution of HRR and mass fraction of key species (OH, H, HO₂) are also compared to identify the flame front. The mass fraction of H has the better trend with HRR. It is suggested that H radical is a more reasonable choice as the indicator of the flame front.     

Evolution of the ignition and combustion process at high velocity at the channel entrance

The article deals with the non-stationary self-ignition of the non-prepared in hydrogen-air mixture in supersonic flow for understanding the influence of the inlet flow velocity on the ignition mode. A series of experiments was carried out at significant change in the inlet velocity into the model channel at the identical flow parameter and equivalence ratio. At the velocity increase, the ignition region shifts downstream due to the change in the wave structure of the flow. Simultaneously, the significant increase of the propagation time of the flame front over the channel occurs that results in the growth of time to reach the stationary combustion regime. It is shown that a flame flashback is a necessary condition for the implementation of combustion at the supersonic flow velocity in the channel, regardless of the inlet velocity. Under identical inlet condition the increase of the Mach number leads to an acceleration of the transition to the subsonic combustion and channel choking.     

Experimental study of shock wave propagation and its influence on the spontaneous ignition during high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube

An experimental study of shock wave propagation and its influence on the spontaneous ignition during high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube are measured by pressure transducers and light sensors. Results show that the pressure behind a shock wave first increases, and subsequently remains near constant value with an increase of the propagation distance. That is, a certain propagation distance is required to form a stable shock wave in the tube. In the front of the tube, the minimum value of pressure behind the shock wave (P_shock) required for spontaneous ignition decreases with the increase in axial distance to the diaphragm. However, the minimum P_shock remains nearly a constant value in the rear part of the tube. Moreover, the critical values of shock Mach number (M_S) for spontaneous ignition decrease with the increase in tube length. And the ignition delay time decreases with the increase of the M_S. As the ignition kernel grows in size to a flame, it propagates downstream along the tube with velocity greater than the theoretical flow velocity of the hydrogen-air contact surface. The flame propagation velocity relative to tube wall increases with M_S. When the self-sustained flame exits from the tube, a rapid non-premixed turbulent combustion is observed in the chamber. The combustion-wave overpressure increases with the increase of the M_S.     

Hysteretic Phenomenon of Shock Wave in a Supersonic Nozzle

In recent years, hysteretic phenomena in fluid flow systems drew attention for their great variety of industrial and engineering applications. When the high-pressure gas is exhausted to atmosphere from the nozzle exit, the expanded supersonic jet with the Mach disk is formed at a specific condition. In two-dimensional expanded supersonic jet, the hysteresis phenomenon for the reflection type of shock wave is occurred under the quasi-steady flow and the transitional pressure ratio between the regular reflection and Mach reflection is affected by this phe- nomenon. However, so far, there are very few researches for the hysteretic phenomenon of shock wave in a supersonic internal flow and the phenomenon has not been investigated satisfactorily. The present study was concemed with the experimental and numerical investigations of hysteretic phenomena of shock wave in a supersonic nozzle, and discussed the relationship between hysteresis phenomenon and rate of the change of pressure ratio with time.     

The heat flux research in hydrogen supersonic combustor at Mach number of 4

The work is devoted to the study of the intensity of heat transfer in a supersonic combustion chamber at a Mach number of 4 under conditions of ignition and transition to intense combustion, including the transition to choking the channel. The experiments were carried out on a combustion chamber model in the connected pipeline mode with flow parameters in the channel close to flight conditions at Mach numbers 6–8. The experimental model is a rectangular channel with a flame holder in the form of backward facing step (BFS). Fuel injection was carried out in front of BFS on the top and bottom walls of the model through 8 circular holes, which were situated under the angles of 45° or 90°. It has been revealed that the choice of the fuel injection scheme leads to an increase in the level and a change in the distribution of the heat flux along the length of the combustion chamber. A decrease in the angle of hydrogen injection makes it possible to significantly reduce the heat flux into the wall of the combustion chamber, while choking the channel is accompanied by a twofold increase in the heat flux.     

Hydrogen flame propagation inside an obstructed chamber

Hydrogen is recognized as a most dangerous gas due to high ignition rate and flame speed. In this work, numerical simulations have been performed to simulate the flow pattern and flame deflagration of hydrogen gas inside a confined chamber with different obstacles. This study tries to disclose the transient progress of flame to define the key actual factors affecting flow feature and flame propagation. In order to simulate hydrogen flame deflagration the limited obstacle channel, a three-dimensional model is established and large eddy simulation (LES) method is applied for the simulation of the model. The impacts of obstacle geometry on the pressure distribution are carefully examined. Obtained results show that overpressure inside the confined channel significantly increase within 0.3–0.6 ms. In this work, comprehensive reliable correlation for prediction of the pressure inside the confined channel is present. Our findings clearly demonstrates that velocity-density coefficient plays significant role the pressure distribution inside the model.     

Experimental investigation of flame and pressure dynamics after spontaneous ignition in tube geometry

Spontaneous ignition processes due to high pressure hydrogen releases into air are known phenomena. The sudden expansion of pressurized hydrogen into a pipe, filled with ambient air, can lead to a spontaneous ignition with a jet fire. This paper presents results of an experimental investigation of the visible flame propagation and pressure measurements in 4 mm extension tubes of up to 1 m length attached to a bulk vessel by a rupture disc. Transparent glass tubes for visual observation and shock wave pressure sensors are used in this study. The effect of the extension tube length on the development of a stable jet fire after a spontaneous ignition is discussed.     

Shock wave of vapor-liquid two-phase flow

The shock wave of vapor-liquid two-phase flow in a pressure-gain steam injector is studied by building a mathematic model and making calculations. The results show that after the shock, the vapor is nearly completely condensed. The upstream Mach number and the volume ratio of vapor have a great effect on the shock. The pressure and Mach number of two-phase shock conform to the shock of ideal gas. The analysis of available energy shows that the shock is an irreversible process with entropy increase. __________ Translated from Nuclear Power Engineering, 2007, 28(4): 25–28 [译自: 核动力工程]     

Design exploration of three-dimensional transverse jet in a supersonic crossflow based on data mining and multi-objective design optimization approaches

The information in the three-dimensional transverse injection flow field is very important for the design of a scramjet combustor, and it should be explored by using the data mining and multi-objective design optimization methods. In the current study, the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the two equation SST k-ω turbulence model has been utilized to simulation the transverse injection flow field with a freestream Mach number 3.75, and the influence of the turbulence model on the flow field properties has been evaluated as well. At the same time, three grid scales have been employed to perform the grid independency analysis, and the predicted results have been compared with the available experimental data in the open literature in order to carry out the code validation process. Further, the effect of the injector geometric configuration on the mixing efficiency of the transverse injection flow field has been investigated, and four different configurations have been considered in the current study, namely the square port, the diamond port, the equilateral triangular port and the circular port. The obtained results show that the case with the square injection port can obtain the largest mixing efficiency, and it can offer the rapidest near-field mixing between the injectant and the air. At last, the transverse injection flow field with the square injection port has been optimized by the surrogate-based evolutionary algorithm, and the relationships between the design variables and the objective functions have been explored by the variance analysis method. It is shown that the jet-to-crossflow pressure ratio has a high remarkable impact on the total pressure recovery efficiency, as well as the number of the injection ports on the drag force performance. The drag force increases with the increase of the number of the injection ports due to the deeper penetration of the rear jets.     

The lean burn direct injection jet ignition gas engine

This paper presents a new in-cylinder mixture preparation and ignition system for various fuels including hydrogen, methane and propane. The system comprises a centrally located direct injection (DI) injector and a jet ignition (JI) device for combustion of the main chamber (MC) mixture. The fuel is injected in the MC with a new generation, fast actuating, high pressure, high flow rate DI injector capable of injection shaping and multiple events. This injector produces a bulk, lean stratified mixture. The JI system uses a second DI injector to inject a small amount of fuel in a small pre-chamber (PC). In the spark ignition (SI) version, a spark plug then ignites a slightly rich mixture. In the auto ignition version, a DI injector injects a small amount of higher pressure fuel in the small PC having a hot glow plug (GP) surface, and the fuel auto ignites in the hot air or when in contact with the hot surface. Either way the MC mixture is then bulk ignited through multiple jets of hot reacting gases. Bulk ignition of the lean, jet controlled, stratified MC mixture resulting from coupling DI with JI makes it possible to burn MC mixtures with fuel to air equivalence ratios reducing almost to zero for a throttle-less control of load diesel-like and high efficiencies over almost the full range of loads.     

不同喷油压力RP-3航空煤油、柴油碰壁喷雾着火和燃烧特性的对比研究

利用直径0.22mm的单孔喷嘴高压共轨喷油器,以喷油器油量标定数据及控制参数为基础,采用高速相机成像技术在定容燃烧室内在等喷油量变喷油压力的前提下测量了着火点、着火滞燃期、燃烧持续期、火焰面积(AF)和火焰自然发光强度(SINL)的变化规律,对比研究了RP-3航空煤油、柴油碰壁喷雾的着火和燃烧特性。结果表明:在低喷油压力下着火点分布在离壁面较远的区域,在较高喷油压力下着火点位于壁面上,距喷油器中心线的距离随喷油压力的增加而增加,且RP-3航空煤油着火点距喷油器的距离比柴油更远。随着喷油压力的增加,RP-3航空煤油碰壁喷雾火焰的着火滞燃期先降低后增加,柴油碰壁喷雾火焰的着火滞燃期不断降低,且RP-3航空煤油具有更短的着火滞燃期。燃烧持续期随喷油压力的增加而降低,RP-3航空煤油的燃烧持续期比柴油短。喷油压力越高,火焰面积(AF)和自然发光强度(SINL)的变化速率越高,而AF和SINL的最大值及达到最大值所需的时间越小。与柴油相比,RP-3航空煤油的AF、SINL具有更高的变化速率,且AF、SINL的峰值更高,达到峰值的时间更短。