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At least 433 records · Page 24

Flow establishment in a generic scramjet combustor

The establishment of a quasi-steady flow in a generic scramjet combustor was studied for the case of a time varying inflow to the combustor. Such transient flow is characteristic of the reflected shock tunnel and expansion tube test facilities. Several numerical simulations of hypervelocity flow through a straight duct combustor with either a side wall step fuel injector or a centrally located strut injector are presented. Comparisons were made between impulsively started but otherwise constant flow conditions (typical of the expansion tube or tailored operations of the reflected shock tunnel) and the relaxing flow produced by the 'undertailored' operations of the reflected shock tunnel. Generally the inviscid flow features, such as the shock pattern and pressure distribution, were unaffected by the time varying inlet conditions and approached steady state in approx. the times indicated by experimental correlations. However, viscous features, such as heat transfer and skin friction, were altered by the relaxing inlet flow conditions.

Jacobs, P. A.↗

Preliminary calibration of a generic scramjet combustor

The results of a preliminary investigation of the combustion of hydrogen fuel at hypersonic flow conditions are provided. The tests were performed in a generic, constant-area combustor model with test gas supplied by a free-piston-driven reflected-shock tunnel. Static pressure measurements along the combustor wall indicated that burning did occur for combustor inlet conditions of P(static) approximately equal to 19kPa, T(static) approximately equal to 1080 K, and U approximately equal to 3630 m/s with a fuel equivalence ratio approximately equal to 0.9. These inlet conditions were obtained by operating the tunnel with stagnation enthalpy approximately equal to 8.1 MJ/kg, stagnation pressure approximately equal to 52 MPa, and a contoured nozzle with a nominal exit Mach number of 5.5.

Jacobs, P. A.↗

User's manual for rocket combustor interactive design (ROCCID) and analysis computer program. Volume 1: User's manual

The user's manual for the rocket combustor interactive design (ROCCID) computer program is presented. The program, written in Fortran 77, provides a standardized methodology using state of the art codes and procedures for the analysis of a liquid rocket engine combustor's steady state combustion performance and combustion stability. The ROCCID is currently capable of analyzing mixed element injector patterns containing impinging like doublet or unlike triplet, showerhead, shear coaxial, and swirl coaxial elements as long as only one element type exists in each injector core, baffle, or barrier zone. Real propellant properties of oxygen, hydrogen, methane, propane, and RP-1 are included in ROCCID. The properties of other propellants can easily be added. The analysis model in ROCCID can account for the influence of acoustic cavities, helmholtz resonators, and radial thrust chamber baffles on combustion stability. ROCCID also contains the logic to interactively create a combustor design which meets input performance and stability goals. A preliminary design results from the application of historical correlations to the input design requirements. The steady state performance and combustion stability of this design is evaluated using the analysis models, and ROCCID guides the user as to the design changes required to satisfy the user's performance and stability goals, including the design of stability aids. Output from ROCCID includes a formatted input file for the standardized JANNAF engine performance prediction procedure.

Muss, J. A.↗

User's manual for rocket combustor interactive design (ROCCID) and analysis computer program. Volume 2: Appendixes A-K

The appendices A-K to the user's manual for the rocket combustor interactive design (ROCCID) computer program are presented. This includes installation instructions, flow charts, subroutine model documentation, and sample output files. The ROCCID program, written in Fortran 77, provides a standardized methodology using state of the art codes and procedures for the analysis of a liquid rocket engine combustor's steady state combustion performance and combustion stability. The ROCCID is currently capable of analyzing mixed element injector patterns containing impinging like doublet or unlike triplet, showerhead, shear coaxial and swirl coaxial elements as long as only one element type exists in each injector core, baffle, or barrier zone. Real propellant properties of oxygen, hydrogen, methane, propane, and RP-1 are included in ROCCID. The properties of other propellants can be easily added. The analysis models in ROCCID can account for the influences of acoustic cavities, helmholtz resonators, and radial thrust chamber baffles on combustion stability. ROCCID also contains the logic to interactively create a combustor design which meets input performance and stability goals. A preliminary design results from the application of historical correlations to the input design requirements. The steady state performance and combustion stability of this design is evaluated using the analysis models, and ROCCID guides the user as to the design changes required to satisfy the user's performance and stability goals, including the design of stability aids. Output from ROCCID includes a formatted input file for the standardized JANNAF engine performance prediction procedure.

Muss, J. A.↗

Numerical study of supersonic combustors by multi-block grids with mismatched interfaces

A three-dimensional, finite-rate chemistry, Navier-Stokes code has been extended to a multi-block with mismatched interface code for practical calculations of supersonic combustors. To ensure global conservation, a conservative algorithm was used for the treatment of mismatched interfaces. The extended code was checked against one test case, i.e., a generic supersonic combustor with transverse fuel injection, examining solution accuracy, convergence, and local mass flux error. After testing, the code was used to simulate the chemically reacting flow fields in a scramjet combustor with parallel fuel injectors (unswept and swept ramps). Computational results were compared with experimental shadowgraph and pressure measurements. Fuel-air mixing characteristics of the unswept and swept ramps were compared and investigated.

Moon, Young J.↗

Combustion efficiency determined from wall pressure and temperature measurement in a Mach 2 combustor

A study of transverse hydrogen injection behind a rearward facing step in a Mach 2 airflow was conducted to determine the combustion efficiency and the combustor/inlet interactions at the low temperature lean-mixture operational end of a scramjet combustor model. The fuel was injected at sonic conditions into the electrically heated airstream, which was maintained at 850 K or below. The static pressure delivered at the entrance of the combustor ranged between 0.25 to 0.5 atm. Injector configurations included single and staged injectors placed at 3 or 3-and-7 step-heights downstream of the step, respectively, with injector diameters of 1, 1.5, and 2 mm. Ignition was achieved by initially unstarting the test section. The constant area combustor and the low initial temperatures caused thermal choking and upstream interaction to occur at very low equivalence ratios. Typically, most of the fuel was burned in the recirculation region behind the step and around the jets. The effects of initial conditions (temperature and pressure), fuel-to-air dynamic pressure ratio, and boundaries (thermal vs adiabatic) are presented.

Segal, Corin↗

Numerical simulation of the reactive flow in advanced (HSR) combustors using KIVA-2

Recent work has been done with the goal of establishing ultralow emission aircraft gas turbine combustors. A significant portion of the effort is the development of three dimensional computational combustor models. The KIVA-II computer code which is based on the Implicit Continuous Eulerian Difference mesh Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ICED-ALE) numerical scheme is one of the codes selected by NASA to achieve these goals. This report involves a simulation of jet injection through slanted slots within the Rich burn/Quick quench/Lean burn (RQL) baseline experimental rig. The RQL combustor distinguishes three regions of combustion. This work specifically focuses on modeling the quick quench mixer region in which secondary injection air is introduced radially through 12 equally spaced slots around the mixer circumference. Steady state solutions are achieved with modifications to the KIVA-II program. Work currently underway will evaluate thermal mixing as a function of injection air velocity and angle of inclination of the slots.

Winowich, Nicholas S.↗

High-temperature durability considerations for HSCT combustor

The novel combustor designs for the High Speed Civil Transport will require high temperature materials with long term environmental stability. Higher liner temperatures than in conventional combustors and the need for reduced weight necessitates the use of advanced ceramic matrix composites. The combustor environment is defined at the current state of design, the major degradation routes are discussed for each candidate ceramic material, and where possible, the maximum use temperatures are defined for these candidate ceramics.

Jacobson, Nathan S.↗

Scramjet combustor analysis with the SHIP3D PNS code

The SHIP3D PNS code has the capability to perform 3D computations of scramjet combustors efficiently at flight Mach numbers of 10 and above, where the combustor flow is mostly supersonic. The fast solution times make skin friction and heat transfer calculations feasible and permit the utilization of multiequation turbulence models. Application of this relatively uncomplicated methodology to compute scramjet combustor flow fields and heat transfer is presented with particular emphasis on the treatment of ramp fuel injectors.

Kamath, Pradep S.↗

A numerical study of the effects of geometry on the performance of a supersonic combustor

A numerical study is conducted to investigate the effects of two combustor scale parameters, the expansion angle and the length of the constant area combustor section, on the mixing and combustion within a supersonic combustor. This study uses the SPARK 3D Navier-Stokes code. Turbulence is modeled utilizing an algebraic eddy viscosity model and the chemical mechanism is modeled with a 7-reaction, 7-species finite-rate chemistry model. The calculations show that, even at the relatively low flight Mach numbers (5-7) associated with the conditions examined, the chemical constituents are far from equilibrium, and therefore that kinetics effects are important.

Eklund, Dean R.↗

Computation of the flow field in an annular gas turbine combustor

The KIVA-II code was modified to calculate the 3D flow field in a typical annular gas turbine combustor. The airblast fuel nozzle, cooling baffle, cooling slots, primary and dilution jets, and effusion cooling (bleed) pads were accounted for in this calculation. The turbulence and combustion were modeled using the k-epsilon model and laminar Arrhenius kinetics, respectively. The fuel was modeled as an evaporating liquid spray. The results illustrate the complicated flow fields present in such combustors. From the results obtained to date it appears that the modified KIVA-II code can be used to study the effects of different annular combustor designs and operating conditions.

Cline, Michael C.↗

NACA research on combustors for aircraft gas turbines I : effects of operating variables on steady-state performance

Some of the systematic research conducted by the NACA on aircraft gas-turbine combustors is reviewed. Trends depicting the effect of inlet-air pressure, temperature, and velocity and fuel-air ratio on performance characteristics, such as combustion efficiency, maximum temperature rise attainable, pressure loss, and combustor-outlet temperature distribution are described for a variety of turbojet combustors of the liquid-fuel type. These trends are further discussed as effects significant to the turbojet engine, such as altitude operational limits, specific fuel consumption, thrust, acceleration, and turbine life.

Olson, Walter T↗

Free-jet Altitude Investigation of a 20-inch Ram-jet Combustor with a Rich Inner Zone of Combustion for Improved Low-temperature-ratio Operation

An investigation of the altitude performance of a 20-inch-diameter high-temperature-ratio ram-jet combustor which had been redesigned to provide good combustor efficiency over a wide range of temperature ratios was conducted at zero angle of attack in a free-jet facility at a Mach number of 3.0. Configurations investigated incorporated a cylindrical control sleeve which confined the injected fuel at low over-all fuel-air ratios to about 40 percent of the engine air flow. This provided an optimum fuel-air mixture over a portion of the flame holder when the over-all fuel-air ratio was about 0.02. The configurations with the control sleeve operated with good combustor efficiency at fuel-air ratios as lean as 0.015, whereas the original engine had a lean blow-out limit at a fuel-air ratio of about 0.03. The control sleeve had little effect upon the high-fuel-air-ratio performance of the engine.

COMBUSTION, RAM-JET ENGINES↗

Performance of a short combustor at high altitudes using hydrogen fuel

Performance characteristics of a 16-inch annular-type combustor installed in a full-scale engine using gaseous-hydrogen fuel were obtained at simulated altitudes from 66,000 to 86,000 feet at a flight Mach number of 0.8. Combustion efficiencies of 86 percent were obtained at 86,000 feet (combustor pressure, 420 lb/sq ft abs). Combustor blowout was not encountered during the investigation.

Sivo, Joseph N↗

Performance of a single fuel-vaporizing combustor with six injectors adapted for gaseous hydrogen

The combustor was operated over a range of inlet-air pressures from 5.3 to 24.0 inches of mercury absolute and inlet-air reference velocities from 60 to 100 feet per second. The combustion efficiencies obtained with the six configurations varied from about 65 to 95 percent for a combustor temperature-rise range of 200 degrees to 1400 degrees F. At a temperature rise of 1200 degrees F (near-rated engine conditions), the spread in efficiencies of the six configurations was about 5 percent. Efficiencies in the range of 65 to 85 percent were obtained at operating conditions beyond the burning range of conventional jet fuels. A fuel-injector configuration that fed only gaseous hydrogen fuel into the standard liquid-fuel-vaporizing tubes generally gave the highest efficiencies. This configuration minimizes the possibility of combustion in the fuel-vaporizing tubes and could be easily adapted to the full-scale engine combustor.

Wear, Jerrold D↗

Optical Detection Of Flameout In A Combustor

Fuel supply shut down in time to prevent explosion. Optical flameout detector designed to signal control system of facility to cut off supply of fuel into combustion chamber if flame goes out. Combustor which optical flameout detector designed burns methane in air to provide hot gases for 8-ft high-temperature test chamber. Acoustical flameout detector for same combustor described in "Acoustical Detection of Flameout in Combustor" (LAR-14900). Fiber optic probes mounted to fuel-spray bar upstream of flame. No focusing optics used, and probes aimed across flow of gases at spot on combustion chamber wall downstream from spray bar. Arrangement enables flameout detection system to respond quickly to potential loss of flame since it detects movement of flame front away from spray bar face. Overall response time of detection system under 10 milliseconds.

Borg, Stephen E.↗

An experimental investigation of mixing enhancement in a simulated scramjet combustor by use of swirling jets

It is desired to maintain supersonic flow through the combustor of supersonic airbreathing engines to reduce static temperatures and total pressure losses inherent in reducing flow to subsonic speeds. Due to the supersonic speeds through the combustor, mixing of the fuel and air must by rapid for complete combustion to occur within a reasonable streamwise distance. It was proposed that the addition of swirl to the fuel jet prior to injection might enhance the mixing of the fuel with the air. The effects of swirl on the mixing of a 30 deg wall jet into a Mach 2 flow were experimentally investigated. Swirl was introduced into the fuel stream by tangential injection into a cylindrical swirl chamber. The flow was then accelerated through a convergent-divergent nozzle with an area ratio of two, and supersonically injected into the Mach 2 flow such that the static pressure of the fuel matched the effective back pressure of the main flow. Two different cases with swirl and one without swirl were investigated, with both helium and air simulating the fuel. Rayleigh scattering was used to visualize the flow and seeding the fuel with water allowed it to be traced through the main flow. Using histograms of the pure molecular Rayleigh scattering images, the helium concentration in the jet-mixing region of the flow was monitored and found to decrease slightly with swirl, indicating better mixing. Thresholding the water-seeded images allowed the jet-mixing region to be isolated and showed a slight increase in this area with swirl. Penetration, however, was slightly less with swirl. Rescaling the data for equal mass flow rates allowed comparison for a scramjet application of a combustor with a single injector and the desire to fuel to a specified fuel-to-oxidant ratio. These results showed a substantial increase in the spreading area with swirl, an increase in the mixing occurring in this area, and slightly better penetration.

Kraus, Donna Karen↗

Compliant Metal Enhanced Convection Cooled Reverse-Flow Annular Combustor

A joint Army/NASA program was conducted to design, fabricate, and test an advanced, reverse-flow, small gas turbine combustor using a compliant metal enhanced (CME) convection wall cooling concept. The objectives of this effort were to develop a design method (basic design data base and analysis) for the CME cooling technique and tben demonstrate its application to an advanced cycle, small, reverse-flow combustor with 3000 F (1922 K) burner outlet temperature (BOT). The CME concept offers significant improvements in wall cooling effectiveness resulting in a large reduction in cooling air requirements. Therefore, more air is available for control of burner outlet temperature pattern in addition to the benefit of improved efficiency, reduced emissions, and smoke levels. Rig test results demonstrated the benefits and viability of the CME concept meeting or exceeding the aerothermal performance and liner wall temperature characteristics of similar lower temperature-rise combustors, achieving 0.15 pattern factor at 3000 F (1922 K) BOT, while utilizing approximately 80 percent less cooling air than conventional, film-cooled combustion systems.

Paskin, Marc D.↗