Improvement of Mixing Efficiency in the Combustion Chamber of a Powder-Fuel Ramjet Engine

The challenge of the powder-fuel ramjet is to improve the mixing effect of powder-fuel with oxidizing agents and combustion efficiency. To improve the mixing and combustion efficiency of the powder-fuel ramjet engine, three configurations in head shapes and three exhaust gas inlet patterns of the engine are designed based on a typical powder-fuel ramjet engine combustion chamber. The effect of the head shapes and exhaust gas inlet patterns is analyzed and compared by the three-dimensional numerical simulation method. A comprehensive model validation is built, and the calculation results of the k-ε standard model are compared with the experimental data. The results show that the cylindrical head forms a recirculation zone at the head of the combustion chamber, which leads to powder deposition in the head region of the chamber. The design with the round head and the coned head reduces the recirculation inside the head region, and the exhaust gas from the fuel gas generator has benefits in powder injection and mixing inside the combustion chamber. The exhaust gas inlet of the inclined six hole type has benefits in the mixing of powder and high temperature exhaust gas because it generates strong flow impingement in the core part of the chamber.

The non-reacting flow characteristics of pylon and wall injections in a dual combustion ramjet engine

The influence of pylon and wall injection in coaxial jets of a Dual Combustion Ramjet engine is numerically investigated in a non-reacting flow field. The supersonic combustor is modeled and analyzed using the commercial CFD software ANSYS 18.0. The three-dimensional compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the SST k-ω turbulence model have been used to analyze the coaxial mixing characteristics of the jets. The numerical study is validated with the experimental data of the wall static pressures measured in the combustor’s flow direction. The pylon and wall injectors are located symmetrically at the gas generator’s exit nozzle, and the air is used as the injectant to simulate gaseous fuel. Three injection pressures are used for the study to understand the flow field characteristics in the injector regime. Also, the gas generator downstream direction is investigated. The shock waves generated from the gas generator nozzle enhance the mixing of the coaxial jets with minimum total pressure loss. The shock wave interactions are noticed with reducing intensity within the supersonic combustor for pylon injection, leading to higher total pressure loss than the wall injection. The pylon injection provides the spatial distribution of fuels compared to the wall injection in the coaxial supersonic flow field.

Computational study of unsteady gas flow in the combustion chamber of a ramjet engine with heat transfer

Проведено численное исследование нестационарного турбулентного сверхзвукового течения в камере сгорания прямоточного воздушно-реактивного двигателя. Описана методика экспериментального измерения температуры на стенке осесимметричного канала в камере сгорания двигателя. Математическое моделирование обтекания исследуемой модели двигателя проводилось для скоростей набегающего потока M = 5 ... 7. Начальные и граничные условия задачи соответствовали реальному аэродинамическому эксперименту. Проанализированы результаты численного расчета. Рассмотрено изменение распределения температуры вдоль стенки канала с течением времени. Проведена оценка согласованности полученных экспериментальных данных с результатами математического моделирования. Purpose. The aim of this study is a numerical simulation of unsteady supersonic gas flow in a working path of ramjet engine under conditions identical to aerodynamic tests. Free stream velocity corresponding to Mach numbers M=5 ... 7 are considered. Methodology. Presented study addresses the methods of physical and numerical simulation. The probing device for thermometric that allows to recording the temperature values along the wall of internal duct was proposed. To describe the motion of a viscous heat-conducting gas the unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier - Stokes equations are considered. The flow turbulence is accounted by the modified SST model. The problem was solved in ANSYS Fluent using finite-volume method. The initial and boundary conditions for unsteady calculation are set according to conditions of real aerodynamic tests. The coupled heat transfer for supersonic flow and elements of ramjet engine model are realized by setting of thermophysical properties of materials. The reliability testing of numerical simulation has been made to compare the results of calculations and the data of thermometric experimental tests. Findings. Numerical simulation of aerodynamic tests for ramjet engine was carried out. The agreement between the results of numerical calculations and experimental measurements for the velocity in the channel under consideration was obtained; the error was shown to be 2%. The temperature values were obtained in the area of contact of the supersonic flow with the surface of the measuring device for the external incident flow velocities for Mach numbers M = 5 ... 7. The process of heating the material in the channel that simulated the section of the engine combustion chamber was analyzed. The temperature distribution was studied depending on the position of the material layer under consideration relative to the contact zone with the flow. Value. In the course of the work, the fields of flow around the model of a ramjet engine were obtained, including the region of supersonic flow in the inner part of axisymmetric channel. The analysis of the temperature fields showed that to improve the quality of the results, it is necessary to take into account the depth of the calorimetric sensor. The obtained results will be used to estimate the time of interaction of the supersonic flow with the fuel surface required to reach the combustion temperature.