Ignition method effect on detonation initiation characteristics in a pulse detonation engine

•Three ignition methods were designed and investigated by experiments.•The ignition and detonation initiation characteristics were analyzed and discussed.•Operating frequency was improved when the length of jet pipe decreased.•DDT distance was shortened to about 700 mm by pre-detonator ignition meth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied thermal engineering 2016-01, Vol.93, p.1-7
Main Authors: Wang, Zhiwu, Zhang, Yang, Huang, Jingjing, Liang, Zijian, Zheng, Longxi, Lu, Jie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Detonation
Detonation initiation
Deviation
Errors
Experimental study
Ignition
Jet ignition
Kerosene
Pre-detonator ignition
Pulse detonation engine
Pulsed detonation wave engines
Spark ignition
Spark plug
Thermal engineering
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Summary:•Three ignition methods were designed and investigated by experiments.•The ignition and detonation initiation characteristics were analyzed and discussed.•Operating frequency was improved when the length of jet pipe decreased.•DDT distance was shortened to about 700 mm by pre-detonator ignition method.•The detonation initiation time by pre-detonator ignition method was only 2~3 ms. The detonation initiation performance of a kerosene fueled air-breathing pulse detonation engine was investigated. Three ignition methods were investigated experimentally, including spark ignition, hot jet, and pre-detonator. The deflagration-to-detonation transition distance measured using the hot jet initiation method was 1130 mm, a reduction of approximately 150 mm compared to the baseline spark ignition method. As the length of jet pipe decreased to 100 mm, the detonation frequency increased to 35 Hz. The PDE operating frequency had little impact on detonation initiation time when pre-detonator ignition method was used, and there was a slight deviation error of detonation initiation time at each of the operating frequencies. However, when spark and hot jet ignition methods were used, detonation initiation time decreased at the increased operating frequency and the deviation error of detonation initiation time was much higher. The shortest detonation initiation time of 2–3 ms and deflagration-to-detonation transition distance of 700 mm were obtained using the pre-detonator ignition method.
ISSN:1359-4311
DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.09.064